Listen free for 30 days
-
Imperial Twilight
- The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $29.14
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
You may also enjoy...
-
Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom
- China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War
- Written by: Stephen R. Platt
- Narrated by: Angela Lin
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen R. Platt is widely respected for his incisive nonfiction, particularly in regard to his knowledge and understanding of China. With Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, Platt details the absorbing narrative of the Taiping Rebellion, which resulted in the loss of 20 million lives. Occurring in the 1850s, this is the story of a cultural movement characterized by intriguing personages such as influential military strategist Zeng Guofan and brilliant Taiping leader Hong Rengan.
Written by: Stephen R. Platt
-
A Bridge Too Far
- Written by: Cornelius Ryan
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Bridge Too Far is Cornelius Ryan’s masterly chronicle of the Battle of Arnhem, which marshaled the greatest armada of troop-carrying aircraft ever assembled and cost the Allies nearly twice as many casualties as D-day. In this compelling work of history, Ryan narrates the Allied effort to end the war in Europe in 1944 by dropping the combined airborne forces of the American and British armies behind German lines to capture the crucial bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem. Focusing on a vast cast of characters, Ryan brings to life one of the most ill-fated operations of the war.
Written by: Cornelius Ryan
-
Modern Times
- The World from the Twenties to the Nineties
- Written by: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 37 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beginning with May 29, 1919, when photographs of the solar eclipse confirmed the truth of Einstein's theory of relativity, Johnson goes on to describe Freudianism, the establishment of the first Marxist state, the chaos of "Old Europe", the Arcadian 20s, and the new forces in China and Japan. Also discussed are Karl Marx, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Roosevelt, Gandhi, Castro, Kennedy, Nixon, the '29 crash, the Great Depression, Roosevelt's New Deal, and the massive conflict of World War II.
-
-
Magnificent book, weak reader
- By James on 2023-05-10
Written by: Paul Johnson
-
Churchill
- Written by: Roy Jenkins
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 38 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this magisterial book, Roy Jenkins' unparalleled command of the political history of Britain and his own high-level government experience combine in a narrative account of Churchill's astounding career that is unmatched in its shrewd insights, its unforgettable anecdotes, the clarity of its overarching themes, and the author's nuanced appreciation of his extraordinary subject.
Written by: Roy Jenkins
-
The House of Morgan
- An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
- Written by: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 34 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P.Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece.
-
-
legendary book does not disappoint
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-03-28
Written by: Ron Chernow
-
Return of the Primitive
- The Anti-Industrial Revolution
- Written by: Ayn Rand, Peter Schwartz
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1960s and early '70s, the most prominent, vocal cultural movement was the New Left: a movement that condemned America and everything it stood for: individualism, material wealth, science, technology, capitalism.
-
-
Eerie
- By C. Schuett on 2020-05-07
Written by: Ayn Rand, and others
-
Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom
- China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War
- Written by: Stephen R. Platt
- Narrated by: Angela Lin
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stephen R. Platt is widely respected for his incisive nonfiction, particularly in regard to his knowledge and understanding of China. With Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom, Platt details the absorbing narrative of the Taiping Rebellion, which resulted in the loss of 20 million lives. Occurring in the 1850s, this is the story of a cultural movement characterized by intriguing personages such as influential military strategist Zeng Guofan and brilliant Taiping leader Hong Rengan.
Written by: Stephen R. Platt
-
A Bridge Too Far
- Written by: Cornelius Ryan
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Bridge Too Far is Cornelius Ryan’s masterly chronicle of the Battle of Arnhem, which marshaled the greatest armada of troop-carrying aircraft ever assembled and cost the Allies nearly twice as many casualties as D-day. In this compelling work of history, Ryan narrates the Allied effort to end the war in Europe in 1944 by dropping the combined airborne forces of the American and British armies behind German lines to capture the crucial bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem. Focusing on a vast cast of characters, Ryan brings to life one of the most ill-fated operations of the war.
Written by: Cornelius Ryan
-
Modern Times
- The World from the Twenties to the Nineties
- Written by: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 37 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beginning with May 29, 1919, when photographs of the solar eclipse confirmed the truth of Einstein's theory of relativity, Johnson goes on to describe Freudianism, the establishment of the first Marxist state, the chaos of "Old Europe", the Arcadian 20s, and the new forces in China and Japan. Also discussed are Karl Marx, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Roosevelt, Gandhi, Castro, Kennedy, Nixon, the '29 crash, the Great Depression, Roosevelt's New Deal, and the massive conflict of World War II.
-
-
Magnificent book, weak reader
- By James on 2023-05-10
Written by: Paul Johnson
-
Churchill
- Written by: Roy Jenkins
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 38 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this magisterial book, Roy Jenkins' unparalleled command of the political history of Britain and his own high-level government experience combine in a narrative account of Churchill's astounding career that is unmatched in its shrewd insights, its unforgettable anecdotes, the clarity of its overarching themes, and the author's nuanced appreciation of his extraordinary subject.
Written by: Roy Jenkins
-
The House of Morgan
- An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
- Written by: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 34 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A gripping history of banking and the booms and busts that shaped the world on both sides of the Atlantic, The House of Morgan traces the trajectory of the J. P.Morgan empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the crash of 1987. Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the private saga of the Morgans and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved. Based on extensive interviews and access to the family and business archives, The House of Morgan is an investigative masterpiece.
-
-
legendary book does not disappoint
- By Amazon Customer on 2018-03-28
Written by: Ron Chernow
-
Return of the Primitive
- The Anti-Industrial Revolution
- Written by: Ayn Rand, Peter Schwartz
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 1960s and early '70s, the most prominent, vocal cultural movement was the New Left: a movement that condemned America and everything it stood for: individualism, material wealth, science, technology, capitalism.
-
-
Eerie
- By C. Schuett on 2020-05-07
Written by: Ayn Rand, and others
-
Paris 1919
- Six Months That Changed the World
- Written by: Margaret MacMillan
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 25 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, renowned historian Margaret MacMillan's best-selling Paris 1919 is the story of six remarkable months that changed the world. At the close of WWI, between January and July of 1919, delegates from around the world converged on Paris under the auspices of peace. New countries were created, old empires were dissolved, and for six months, Paris was the center of the world.
-
-
Very important book
- By AvidReader on 2023-02-13
Written by: Margaret MacMillan
-
Salt
- A World History
- Written by: Mark Kurlansky
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So much of our human body is made up of salt that we'd be dead without it. The fine balance of nature, the trade of salt as a currency of many nations and empires, the theme of a popular Shakespearean play... Salt is best selling author Mark Kurlansky's story of the only rock we eat.
-
-
A very salty history
- By Ron Smallwood on 2021-02-11
Written by: Mark Kurlansky
-
The Great Game
- The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia
- Written by: Peter Hopkirk
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia was fought across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China, over the lonely passes of the Parmirs and Karakorams, in the blazing Kerman and Helmund deserts, and through the caravan towns of the old Silk Road - both powers scrambling to control access to the riches of India and the East. When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to 20 miles at some points.
-
-
Excellent historical narrative.
- By Amazon Customer on 2024-01-02
Written by: Peter Hopkirk
-
The Rise and Fall of American Growth
- The U.S. Standard of Living Since the Civil War
- Written by: Robert J. Gordon
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 30 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the century after the Civil War, an economic revolution improved the American standard of living in ways previously unimaginable. Electric lighting, indoor plumbing, home appliances, motor vehicles, air travel, air conditioning, and television transformed households and workplaces. With medical advances, life expectancy between 1870 and 1970 grew from 45 to 72 years. The Rise and Fall of American Growth provides an in-depth account of this momentous era.
-
-
Not the best
- By Robert Hoskins on 2023-11-01
Written by: Robert J. Gordon
-
The Guns of August
- Written by: Barbara W. Tuchman
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I. This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of Kings and Kaisers and Czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed...and how horrible it became.
-
-
Couldn’t finish it
- By Boscotti_M on 2023-11-06
Written by: Barbara W. Tuchman
-
The History of the Ancient World
- From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
- Written by: Susan Wise Bauer
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the first volume in a bold new series that tells the stories of all peoples, connecting historical events from Europe to the Middle East to the far coast of China, while still giving weight to the characteristics of each country. Susan Wise Bauer provides both sweeping scope and vivid attention to the individual lives that give flesh to abstract assertions about human history. This narrative history employs the methods of "history from beneath" - literature, epic traditions, private letters, and accounts - to connect kings and leaders with the lives of those they ruled.
-
-
Iffy narration, abrupt ending
- By Micah Clark on 2020-09-07
Written by: Susan Wise Bauer
-
The Company
- The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire
- Written by: Stephen R. Bown
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Hudson’s Bay Company started out small in 1670, trading practical manufactured goods for furs with the indigenous inhabitants of inland subarctic Canada. Controlled by a handful of English aristocrats, it expanded into a powerful political force that ruled the lives of many thousands of people - from the lowlands south and west of Hudson Bay, to the tundra, the great plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Northwest.
-
-
Disappointing
- By James Edwards on 2022-02-22
Written by: Stephen R. Bown
-
Empire
- Written by: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain's age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government - all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the 17th century until the mid-20th. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity.
-
-
great education on British colonialism
- By daniel Froese on 2023-02-03
Written by: Niall Ferguson
-
Working
- Written by: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Robert A. Caro
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Power Broker and the Years of Lyndon Johnson series: an unprecedented gathering of vivid, candid, deeply revealing recollections about his experiences researching and writing his acclaimed books.
-
-
Very informative
- By yo on 2021-09-22
Written by: Robert A. Caro
-
The Rise and Reign of the Mammals
- A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
- Written by: Steve Brusatte
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We humans are the inheritors of a dynasty that has reigned over the planet for nearly 66 million years, through fiery cataclysm and ice ages: the mammals. Our lineage includes saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, armadillos the size of a car, cave bears three times the weight of a grizzly, clever scurriers that outlasted Tyrannosaurus rex, and even other types of humans, like Neanderthals.
-
-
Excellent Follow Up That Stands On It’s Own
- By Sebastian on 2022-07-12
Written by: Steve Brusatte
-
The Man Who Solved the Market
- How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution
- Written by: Gregory Zuckerman
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim Simons is the greatest money maker in modern financial history. No other investor - Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Ray Dalio, Steve Cohen, or George Soros - can touch his record. Since 1988, Renaissance's signature Medallion fund has generated average annual returns of 66 percent. The firm has earned profits of more than $100 billion; Simons is worth 23 billion dollars.
-
-
Good book, can't get much details of the how to
- By Sean Arani on 2020-01-26
Written by: Gregory Zuckerman
-
The Rising Sun
- The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
- Written by: John Toland
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 41 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This Pulitzer Prize-winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, "a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened - muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox."
-
-
very well done
- By Frank on 2022-06-10
Written by: John Toland
Publisher's Summary
As China reclaims its position as a world power, Imperial Twilight looks back to tell the story of the country's last age of ascendance and how it came to an end in the 19th-century Opium War.
As one of the most potent turning points in the country's modern history, the Opium War has since come to stand for everything that today's China seeks to put behind it.
In this dramatic, epic story, award-winning historian Stephen Platt sheds new light on the early attempts by Western traders and missionaries to "open" China even as China's imperial rulers were struggling to manage their country's decline and Confucian scholars grappled with how to use foreign trade to China's advantage.
The audiobook paints an enduring portrait of an immensely profitable - and mostly peaceful - meeting of civilizations that was destined to be shattered by one of the most shockingly unjust wars in the annals of imperial history. Brimming with a fascinating cast of British, Chinese, and American characters, this riveting narrative of relations between China and the West has important implications for today's uncertain and ever-changing political climate.
What the critics say
"Everyone with experience in China has heard about the legacy of the Opium War and subsequent ‘Century of Humiliation.’ But Stephen Platt presents the buildup to this confrontation in a vivid and fascinating way, which challenges many prevailing assumptions in both China and the West (including some of my own). This is narrative and analytic history of a high order, which will be read with enjoyment by audiences around the world.” (James Fallows, author of Our Towns and China Airborne)
"A deeply researched study of an early clash of civilizations, when England attempted to impose its will on East Asia... A fluent, well-written exercise in revisionism, one of interest to students of modern geopolitics as well as 19th-century history." (Kirkus)
"A fresh perspective on the first Opium War, the conflict that allowed Western merchants to pry open China’s riches and gain unprecedented trading privileges... Platt's research is impeccably presented in this winning history of British and Chinese trade." (Publishers Weekly)
More from the same
Author:
Narrator:
What listeners say about Imperial Twilight
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Corbin Smith
- 2019-07-28
Wonderful book great narrator
Narration is great.
The book is fantastic. Exactly what I was looking for on this topic. Both good history but also a good drama. The author explains the characters and reads from their private journals and correspondence, giving you a real feel for who the actors in this part of history were.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-07-24
Excellently engaging and fascinating
I had no idea the extents of British involvement in Chinese politics. This is also a great history of China from the 15th to 19th century, from empirial politics (the reasons behind the decline of the Empire) to the culture of the common Chinese citizen. You can infer the connections of the events in this book to the later Taiping Revolution and Communist Revolution, what an eye opener!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Simon
- 2022-02-03
Well written but not the story I was hoping for
Well written overall and easy to follow. This is a book about the circumstances leading up the opium war. It dives into the people who were at the heart of the interface between the China and the west. It does not discuss in any detail the fighting itself, the living conditions of the people in this place at this time any of the details around the consumption of opium. I felt the last 3rd of the book kind of rushed to the end and glossed over what I was expecting to be the climax: the actual war itself. I now have to go and use wikipedia to learn that part of the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!