The Opium Wars: Some Lessons for Europe (Libertarian Alliance Historical Notes No. 5)

London, England: Libertarian Alliance, 1988. Book. Fine. Soft cover. 1st Edition. 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. A left-folded publication measuring 8-1/4" by 11-11/16" and containing four total pages. The author begins, "If there is anything connecting management and unions - and sometimes government - in the European Community, it is fear of the Orient." The topics are: China Alone Was Different ("There was by 1800 no state or institution on earth so old as the Chinese Empire. Voltaire had praised it. Marco Polo had described it and been disbelieved"); 'Moral Poison' ("To those on the outside, opium was a great comforter. For as long as its effects lasted, it banished hunger pains and despair - even if it sometimes made them worse afterwards"); The Company and Its Monopoly ("Above all else, the opium trade was vital to the solvency of the East India Company - which is to say the solvency of the Indian Government"); An Integral Part of English Culture ("The English opium trade was at the time absolutely uncontrolled. Use remained free until the Great War - when it was only one among many freedoms to be lost. While reliable figures were kept, between 1827 and 1859, British opium consumption rose from 17,000 lb to 61,000 lb"); The Chinese Lost; The Collapse of the Chinese Empire; The Example of China and the Choice for Europe..