This trilogy was a rather daunting read, between the cast of (it seemed) thousands and the liberal use of other languages (not translated.) But it was compelling in that I learned so much about British Empire building and the Opium Wars.
The first book is set mostly in India where the British overlords have compelled farmers to grow poppies--sometimes to the exclusion of food--to fuel the lucrative opium trade with China.A somewhat difficult read at times but worthwhile.
The succeeding books are set mostly in China and show how the Chinese government struggled to ban the sale of opium even as the British, in the name of Free Trade, used military force to keep the drug trade going.
That's a very simplistic takeaway. There are so many interesting characters--Hindu, Muslims, Parsees, Chinese, Malaysian, British, American-- and their paths interweave and tangle. I admit to skimming bits at time, wanting to get to the personal stories--the Parsee merchant with a family in India and a mistress and child in China, the Indian nobleman who is done out of his estate by sly maneuvers on the part of the British, the mulatto from Baltimore who 'passes' and becomes the secret lover of a British memsahib who only wants to save him from the sin of Onanism, and many others whose stories are equally interesting.It's a very rich feast and can be overwhelming at times. But learning more about this time in history resonates today--as I see the pictures of the British Royals in their pristine white, gracing a former colony with their (not universally welcome) presence.
