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In her book “The Opium Wars,” Julia Lovell, professor of modern Chinese history and literature, provides a compelling account of the causes and consequences of the Opium Wars. In October 1839, Britain entered the First Opium War with China. Despite its brutality, the conflict was also characterized by a mixture of tragedy and comedy: from Victorian hypocrisy, to bureaucratic bungling, military blunders, political opportunism, and collaboration. However, over the past 170 years, this strange tale of misunderstanding, incompetence, and compromise has become the founding episode of modern Chinese nationalism.