Based upon selected anecdotal stories written by British observers, this text reconstructs the events of the illegal opium trade in Canton in the 1830s and the war between Britain and China that followed. The volume is illustrated with b & w maps, prints, and photographs. Irish-born Collis (1889-1975) served for many years in the Indian Civil Service in Burma and later became a writer and critic in London. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

WWII began with a metallic roar as the German Blitzkrieg raced across Europe, spearheaded by the most dreaded weapon of the 20th century: the Panzer. No German tank better represents that thundering power than the infamous Tiger, and Otto Carius was one of the most successful commanders to ever take a Tiger into battle, destroying well over 150 enemy tanks during his incredible career.

'Empires of Mud' analyses the dynamics of warlordism in Afghanistan. It analyses aspects of the Afghan environment that might have been conductive to the fragmentation of central authority and the emergence of warlords and then accounts for the emergence of warlordism in the 1980s.

As China reclaims its position as a world power, Imperial Twilight looks back to tell the story of the country’s last age of ascendance and how it came to an end in the nineteenth-century Opium War. As one of the most potent turning points in the country’s modern history, the Opium War has since come to stand for everything that today’s China seeks to put behind it. In this dramatic, epic story, award-winning historian Stephen Platt sheds new light on the early attempts by Western traders and missionaries to “open” China even as China’s imperial rulers were struggling to manage their country’s decline and Confucian scholars grappled with how to use foreign trade to China’s advantage. The book paints an enduring portrait of an immensely profitable—and mostly peaceful—meeting of civilizations that was destined to be shattered by one of the most shockingly unjust wars in the annals of imperial history. Brimming with a fascinating cast of British, Chinese, and American characters, this riveting narrative of relations between China and the West has important implications for today’s uncertain and ever-changing political climate.

Being Experiences Of Friar Manrique In Arakan (A Province In Western Burma), Between The Years 1630-1676.

Napoleon delayed his attack at Waterloo to allow the mud to dry. Had he attacked earlier, he might have defeated Wellington before Blücher arrived. In November 1942, Russian mud stopped the Germans, who could not advance again until the temperature dropped low enough to freeze the mud. During the Vietnam War, "Project Popeye" was an American attempt to lengthen the monsoon and cause delays on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Soldiers have always known just how significant mud can be in war. But historians have not fully recognized its importance, and few have discussed the phenomenon in more than a passing manner. Only three books--Military Geography (by John Collins), Battling the Elements (by Harold Winters et al.), and Battlegrounds) (edited by Michael Stephenson)-- have addressed it at any length and then only as part of the entire environment's effect on the battlefield. None of these books analyzed mud's influence on the individual combatant. Mud: A Military History first defines the substance's very different types. Then it examines their specific effects on mobility and on soldiers and their equipment over the centuries and throughout the world. From the Russian rasputiza to the Southeast Asian monsoon, C. E. Wood demonstrates mud's profound impact on the course of military history. Citing numerous veterans' memoirs, archival sources, personal interviews, and historical sources, soldier-scholar Wood pays particular attention to mud's effect on combatants' morale, health, and fatigue. His book is for all infantrymen--past, present, or the clean, dry, comfortable armchair variety.