Description
This fascinating history of international drug trafficking in the first half of the 20th century follows the stories of American narcs and gangsters, Japanese spies, Chinese warlords, and soldiers of fortune whose lives revolved around opium. The drug trade centered on China, which was before 1949, the world's largest narcotic market. The authors tell the interlocking stories of the many extraordinary personalities_sinister and otherwise_involved in narcotics trafficking in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Drawing on a rich store of U.S., British, European, Japanese, and Chinese archives, this unique study will be invaluable for all readers interested in the drug trade and contemporary East Asian history.
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The title of this work of history is somewhat misleading. Meyer (history, Wright State U.) and Parssinen (history, U. of Tampa) concentrate primarily on the ebbs and flows of the opium trade that revolved around the political and economic power struggles in China during the first half of the 20th century. They essentially argue that drug trafficking succeeds where the traffickers are able to offer economic and political rewards to those who can ease their trafficking efforts. They profile the economic and political players surrounding the Chinese opium trade, including Chinese bureaucrats, European colonial powers and officers, warlords, spies, communists, anti-communists, and the drug traffickers themselves. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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