‘Powerful, astute and readable … meticulously researched, and written with flair and feeling’

John Keay, Literary Review

From opium wars, conquest and rebellion to the end of the Qing imperial dynasty, the history of the European colonial ‘scramble’ for China is one of brutality and idealism, oppression and adventure - a story that is still central to the country’s image of itself today.

Robert Bickers’ extraordinary book tells this epic story from both European and Chinese viewpoints, as ‘foreign devils’ gathered around China’s weakened empire and tried to build a new world.

‘At every airport bookshop, the traveller is offered shelves of volumes that purport to tell us how an emerging, powerful China will deal with the world. Those who wish to understand these issues more closely might be better advised to read this fair and fascinating account’

Chris Patten, Financial Times

‘Packed with interesting stories from a range of official and unofficial sources, The Scramble For China at times reads like historical fiction, veering at times into action-packed tales of intrigue. Throughout it maintains a humanity and sympathy for many of the individuals depicted in its pages’

Beijing Today