Samuel Merwin

Drugging a Nation Samuel Merwin

This is an account of the opium-smoking trend that spread throughout China in the early 1900s and gives staggering insights in a dirty little chapter in the history books that has conveniently been forgotten. Published in 1908, this micro-history takes you back to the horrors of hard-drugs and its impact on a big part of life in 1900s China. The dope-peddling Crown of England consciously imposed opium on the Chinese for the sake of revenues to support her adventures in the Indian Empire, and to keep them (the Chinese) down on their knees. In the same period, the West sent numerous missionaries to China to preach the good news - and make lots of opium-money on the side - but the Chinese saw the darkness perpetrated by the evil Opium trade in time and reacted swiftly. Interestingly, this book is already hinting at the future greatness of China, that we are witnessing today.
On another level one can see this book as a classic introduction to the form of 'silent warfare', that is so much in vogue these days. Notoir Books is a publisher of books on topics of esoteric interests, eccentric memoirs, overlooked history, otherworldly stories and distinctive voices. You can visit us at notoirbooks.com for more.