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In this novel Clavell explains the opium trade, and how it came to be an evil that was nevertheless central to the China trade in these times.
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Struan struggles to combine the best traits of the British democratic system and the wisdom of China, of which he notes, "the Chinese are a wise smart people, even if they don't build good cannons like Europeans." and he admonishes his ship's crews to adopt Chinese practices of good hygiene and other sanitary practices. Struan and the other characters in this novel spring to life, and this is an absorbing novel that is almost impossible to put down. Struan is determined to open up China to Western trade, and to "bring China into the family of nations." This novel is his story, and it is wonderfully told. Even more, this is the story of an unforgettable fictional character, Dirk Struan, founder of The Nobel House, the leading British trading combine in China. This is a magnificent saga of the founding of Hong Kong by powerful British trading interests, which manipulate the British government towards establishing Hong Kong as Britain's trading outpost in the Far East.
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I did not expect to find another novel by James Clavell that I liked as well as Shogun or King Rat.