Review

This superb book is a detailed analysis of an extraordinary aspect of western imperialism: the production of opium in the nineteenth century by the British government in India, as its third most important source of revenue for the maintenance of its power. Anglo-European Science and the Rhetoric of Empire untangles this complex story for the first time. (Ainslie T. Embree )

This very careful study is a valuable addition to our understanding of imperialism and to the history of medicine and science in British India. (Jack Hume )

In the recent historiography of British imperialism few topics have enjoyed as much renewed interest among scholars as have science, medicine, and missionary evangelism. In this book, Paul C. Winther has provided a meticulously researched study of how all these aspects converged in one of the more controversial episodes of British rule in India: the state-sanctioned production and marketing of opium to Indian and Chinese consumers. (Canadian Journal Of History )

This book is a contribution to such researches on the history of science, imperialism, and culture. (Pratik Chakrabarti )

Highly recommended. (Choice )

What Winther has given us, in this masterful work, is an incredibly useful and well-written treatise on the complexities of the whole story of opium and empire. It's difficult to imagine how any such work could be more comprehensive. (Hal W. French )

Paul Winther's book is an especially significant contribution to a widening debate and is particularly timely given recent developments in the historiography. All the volumes of the Royal Opium Commission of 1893-4, were recently republished with an introduction by Joyce Madancy and as such those keen to engage with this remarkable set of sources will find in Winther's book an important addition to the analytical tools available. (James H. Mills Intenerario 2G:1, (2005) )

Paul C. Winther provides a rigorous analysis that supports the claim of Carl Trocki that the British empire in Asia was a drug cartel. As the author writes in his introduction, books are still to be written about many particular aspects of the Secret History. Certainly his present magnum opus, in which he successfully incorporates all achievements of previous investigations and the fruits of his own research, will be a great source of inspiration for the generation of scholars to come. (The Journal Of Asian Studies )

About the Author

Paul C. Winther is professor of anthropology at Eastern Kentucky University.