Smoke and Ashes by Amitav Ghosh

Smoke and Ashes: A Writer's Journey through Opium's Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A brilliant expose of the hypocrisy of the British and American governments and people, regarding the production and trade of opium in South East Asia and China.
Tagore says

It had gradually become clear that outside of Europe the torch of European civilization was not intended to light the way, but to start fires. That is why, one day, cannonballs and pellets of opium rained down together on the heart of China. Never in history has such an atrocity occurred before.

Here is the fervent protest of the Chines Prince Gong to the British diplomat Rutherford Alcock

All say that England trades in opium because she desires to work China’s ruin … the Chinese merchant supplies your country with his godly tea and silk, conferring thereby a benefit upon her, but the English merchant empoisons China with pestilent opium. Such conduct is unrighteous. Who can justify it? What wonder if officials and people say that England is wilfully working out China’s ruin?

Gets repetitive at times but still quite revelatory.

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