Writing style
Descriptive · Direct · Journalistic
Apple BooksImperial Twilight
History
- Print length
- 556 pagesKnopf, 2018
Description
Stephen R. Platt’s Imperial Twilight examines the events that led to the First Opium War of 1839–1842. Its central focus is nineteenth-century Britain’s effort to open China to trade and the commercial pressures that pushed relations toward war. Platt connects those pressures to the weakening position of the Qing dynasty, presenting the conflict within a broader history of trade and political change. The book also traces the longer consequences of these developments, including their contribution to later Chinese nationalism and communism. By looking backward from the outbreak of war and forward to its political legacy, the history situates the conflict within transformations that extended well beyond the fighting itself.
Reading profile
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Pace
Measured
Tone
Cerebral · Earnest · Reflective
Structure
Chronological nonfiction
Focus
Argument · Ideas · Information
Emotional intensity
3 / 5
Reading complexity
1–5 · higher means more demanding- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 4 / 5
- Structure
- 3 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 2 / 5
Themes
Book details
For the print edition listed above.
- Publisher
- Knopf
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780307961730
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