Bickers Robert Livres

Chekhov's late masterpiece examines human behaviour in all of its beautiful, terrible, laughable contradiction.

The book delves into the diverse experiences of Britons in various colonial communities beyond the Dominions. Through a series of case studies, it examines how different groups interacted with and were influenced by British power in distinct regions around the globe, highlighting the complexities of colonial life and the impact of imperialism on both the colonizers and the colonized.

The study explores Britain's complex presence in China during its imperial height and subsequent decline, emphasizing the role of urban settlers whose loyalties were primarily to their communities rather than imperial ambitions. Through extensive archival research, the author highlights the interactions and conflicts between these settlers, the Chinese populace, and the British government. It also examines how various British sectors, including missionaries and businesses, adapted their relationships with China, ultimately reshaping the landscape of British imperialism in the region.

Shanghai in the wake of the First World War was one of the world's most dynamic, brutal and exciting cities. Threatened from within by communist workers and governed by desperate British-dominated administration, Shanghai was mesmerising and terrible. Into this maelstrom stepped a tough and resourceful ex-veteran Englishman to join the police.

Even at the high noon of Europe's empire-building China nonetheless kept its sovereignty. Robert Bickers' major new book is the first to describe fully what has proved to be one of the modern era's most important stories- the long, often agonizing process by which the Chinese had by the end of the 20th century regained control of their own country.Out of Chinauses a brilliant array of unusual, strange and vivid sources to recreate a now fantastically remote world. Today Chinese nationalism stays firmly rooted in memories of its degraded past - the quest for self-sufficiency, the determination to assert China's standing in the world, to stake its outstanding territorial claims, and never to be vulnerable to renewed attack. History matters deeply to Beijing's current rulers - and Out of Chinaexplains why.

In the early nineteenth century China remained almost untouched by British and European powers - but as new technology started to change this balance, foreigners gathered like wolves around the weakening Qing Empire. This book explains the roots of China's complex relationship with the West.