Author: Mike Gascoigne
Publisher: Anno Mudi Books
ISBN: 9780954392208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 245
Book Description
This book examines some of the very earliest histories, beginning with the Babylonian ten kings before the flood, the story of Gilgamesh, and the foundation of Troy. The claims of the Greek philosopher Euhemerus are considered, that all the gods were deified kings. The story continues with the destruction of Troy, the flight of Aeneas to Italy and the arrival of his great-grandson Brutus in Britain. The early Irish and Scottish histories are also considered, together with the arrival of Christianity in these islands during the first century and the building of the first church at Glastonbury. Finally, all the histories agree that, just as the world had a beginning, so also it will have an end. The Chapters are: 1. Creation and the Flood. 2. The Early Post-Flood World. 3. Dubious Histories. 4. From Dardanus to the Welsh Kings. 5. Anglo-Saxon Genealogies. 6. History of Ireland and Scotland. 7. Early Christianity in the British Isles. 8. The End of the World. ix + 245 pages, including 314 footnotes, Bibliography with 87 references, and Index. Mike Gascoigne is a freelance technical author with a background in chemical engineering. He dumped history at the age of 14 because he thought it was boring, but took it up again later in life when he realised that it all started somewhere and we didn't just emerge from an amorphous stone age, bronze age and iron age. Mike Gascoigne, BSc, MS, CEng, MIChemE, MISTC.
Forgotten History of the Western People
Author: Mike Gascoigne
Publisher: Anno Mudi Books
ISBN: 9780954392208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 245
Book Description
This book examines some of the very earliest histories, beginning with the Babylonian ten kings before the flood, the story of Gilgamesh, and the foundation of Troy. The claims of the Greek philosopher Euhemerus are considered, that all the gods were deified kings. The story continues with the destruction of Troy, the flight of Aeneas to Italy and the arrival of his great-grandson Brutus in Britain. The early Irish and Scottish histories are also considered, together with the arrival of Christianity in these islands during the first century and the building of the first church at Glastonbury. Finally, all the histories agree that, just as the world had a beginning, so also it will have an end. The Chapters are: 1. Creation and the Flood. 2. The Early Post-Flood World. 3. Dubious Histories. 4. From Dardanus to the Welsh Kings. 5. Anglo-Saxon Genealogies. 6. History of Ireland and Scotland. 7. Early Christianity in the British Isles. 8. The End of the World. ix + 245 pages, including 314 footnotes, Bibliography with 87 references, and Index. Mike Gascoigne is a freelance technical author with a background in chemical engineering. He dumped history at the age of 14 because he thought it was boring, but took it up again later in life when he realised that it all started somewhere and we didn't just emerge from an amorphous stone age, bronze age and iron age. Mike Gascoigne, BSc, MS, CEng, MIChemE, MISTC.
Publisher: Anno Mudi Books
ISBN: 9780954392208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 245
Book Description
This book examines some of the very earliest histories, beginning with the Babylonian ten kings before the flood, the story of Gilgamesh, and the foundation of Troy. The claims of the Greek philosopher Euhemerus are considered, that all the gods were deified kings. The story continues with the destruction of Troy, the flight of Aeneas to Italy and the arrival of his great-grandson Brutus in Britain. The early Irish and Scottish histories are also considered, together with the arrival of Christianity in these islands during the first century and the building of the first church at Glastonbury. Finally, all the histories agree that, just as the world had a beginning, so also it will have an end. The Chapters are: 1. Creation and the Flood. 2. The Early Post-Flood World. 3. Dubious Histories. 4. From Dardanus to the Welsh Kings. 5. Anglo-Saxon Genealogies. 6. History of Ireland and Scotland. 7. Early Christianity in the British Isles. 8. The End of the World. ix + 245 pages, including 314 footnotes, Bibliography with 87 references, and Index. Mike Gascoigne is a freelance technical author with a background in chemical engineering. He dumped history at the age of 14 because he thought it was boring, but took it up again later in life when he realised that it all started somewhere and we didn't just emerge from an amorphous stone age, bronze age and iron age. Mike Gascoigne, BSc, MS, CEng, MIChemE, MISTC.
The Forgotten History of America
Author: Cormac O'Brien
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
ISBN: 1616738499
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
“Introduces us to extraordinary men and women and landmark events that shaped the American character and the future of the nation.” —Thomas J. Craughwell, author of Failures of the Presidents and Stealing Lincoln’s Body Today Americans remember 1776 as the beginning of an era. A nation was born, commencing a story that continues to this day. But the War of Independence also marked the end of another era—one in which many nations, Native American and European, had struggled for control of a vast and formidable wilderness. This book returns to that long-ago age in which the clash between America’s first peoples and the newcomers from Europe was still new. Author Cormac O’Brien’s masterful storytelling reveals how actors as diverse as Spanish conquistadores, Puritan ministers, Amerindian sachems, mercenary soldiers, and ordinary farmers traded and clashed across a landscape of constant, often violent, change—and how these dramatic moments helped to shape the world around us. From the founding of the first permanent European settlement in North America (1565) to the bloody chaos of the British frontier in Pontiac’s War (1763), this vividly written narrative spans the two centuries of American history before the Revolutionary War. These lesser-known conflicts of the past are brought brilliantly to life, showing us a world of heroism, brutality, and tenacity—and also showing us how deep the roots of our own time truly run. Illustrated with more than 100 archival images. “Set against a grand landscape that inspires both awe and terror, The Forgotten History of America depicts a continent emerging as both a bloody battleground between Native Americans and Europeans and a place where alien cultures began to mesh.” —Joseph Cummins, author of The World’s Bloodiest History
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
ISBN: 1616738499
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
“Introduces us to extraordinary men and women and landmark events that shaped the American character and the future of the nation.” —Thomas J. Craughwell, author of Failures of the Presidents and Stealing Lincoln’s Body Today Americans remember 1776 as the beginning of an era. A nation was born, commencing a story that continues to this day. But the War of Independence also marked the end of another era—one in which many nations, Native American and European, had struggled for control of a vast and formidable wilderness. This book returns to that long-ago age in which the clash between America’s first peoples and the newcomers from Europe was still new. Author Cormac O’Brien’s masterful storytelling reveals how actors as diverse as Spanish conquistadores, Puritan ministers, Amerindian sachems, mercenary soldiers, and ordinary farmers traded and clashed across a landscape of constant, often violent, change—and how these dramatic moments helped to shape the world around us. From the founding of the first permanent European settlement in North America (1565) to the bloody chaos of the British frontier in Pontiac’s War (1763), this vividly written narrative spans the two centuries of American history before the Revolutionary War. These lesser-known conflicts of the past are brought brilliantly to life, showing us a world of heroism, brutality, and tenacity—and also showing us how deep the roots of our own time truly run. Illustrated with more than 100 archival images. “Set against a grand landscape that inspires both awe and terror, The Forgotten History of America depicts a continent emerging as both a bloody battleground between Native Americans and Europeans and a place where alien cultures began to mesh.” —Joseph Cummins, author of The World’s Bloodiest History
Lost to the West
Author: Lars Brownworth
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307407969
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Filled with unforgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the West reveals how much we owe to the Byzantine Empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy. For more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization. When Europe fell into the Dark Ages, Byzantium held fast against Muslim expansion, keeping Christianity alive. Streams of wealth flowed into Constantinople, making possible unprecedented wonders of art and architecture. And the emperors who ruled Byzantium enacted a saga of political intrigue and conquest as astonishing as anything in recorded history. Lost to the West is replete with stories of assassination, mass mutilation and execution, sexual scheming, ruthless grasping for power, and clashing armies that soaked battlefields with the blood of slain warriors numbering in the tens of thousands.
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307407969
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Filled with unforgettable stories of emperors, generals, and religious patriarchs, as well as fascinating glimpses into the life of the ordinary citizen, Lost to the West reveals how much we owe to the Byzantine Empire that was the equal of any in its achievements, appetites, and enduring legacy. For more than a millennium, Byzantium reigned as the glittering seat of Christian civilization. When Europe fell into the Dark Ages, Byzantium held fast against Muslim expansion, keeping Christianity alive. Streams of wealth flowed into Constantinople, making possible unprecedented wonders of art and architecture. And the emperors who ruled Byzantium enacted a saga of political intrigue and conquest as astonishing as anything in recorded history. Lost to the West is replete with stories of assassination, mass mutilation and execution, sexual scheming, ruthless grasping for power, and clashing armies that soaked battlefields with the blood of slain warriors numbering in the tens of thousands.
The Three-Cornered War
Author: Megan Kate Nelson
Publisher: Scribner
ISBN: 1501152556
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History A dramatic, riveting, and “fresh look at a region typically obscured in accounts of the Civil War. American history buffs will relish this entertaining and eye-opening portrait” (Publishers Weekly). Megan Kate Nelson “expands our understanding of how the Civil War affected Indigenous peoples and helped to shape the nation” (Library Journal, starred review), reframing the era as one of national conflict—involving not just the North and South, but also the West. Against the backdrop of this larger series of battles, Nelson introduces nine individuals: John R. Baylor, a Texas legislator who established the Confederate Territory of Arizona; Louisa Hawkins Canby, a Union Army wife who nursed Confederate soldiers back to health in Santa Fe; James Carleton, a professional soldier who engineered campaigns against Navajos and Apaches; Kit Carson, a famous frontiersman who led a regiment of volunteers against the Texans, Navajos, Kiowas, and Comanches; Juanita, a Navajo weaver who resisted Union campaigns against her people; Bill Davidson, a soldier who fought in all of the Confederacy’s major battles in New Mexico; Alonzo Ickis, an Iowa-born gold miner who fought on the side of the Union; John Clark, a friend of Abraham Lincoln’s who embraced the Republican vision for the West as New Mexico’s surveyor-general; and Mangas Coloradas, a revered Chiricahua Apache chief who worked to expand Apache territory in Arizona. As we learn how these nine charismatic individuals fought for self-determination and control of the region, we also see the importance of individual actions in the midst of a larger military conflict. Based on letters and diaries, military records and oral histories, and photographs and maps from the time, “this history of invasions, battles, and forced migration shapes the United States to this day—and has never been told so well” (Pulitzer Prize–winning author T.J. Stiles).
Publisher: Scribner
ISBN: 1501152556
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History A dramatic, riveting, and “fresh look at a region typically obscured in accounts of the Civil War. American history buffs will relish this entertaining and eye-opening portrait” (Publishers Weekly). Megan Kate Nelson “expands our understanding of how the Civil War affected Indigenous peoples and helped to shape the nation” (Library Journal, starred review), reframing the era as one of national conflict—involving not just the North and South, but also the West. Against the backdrop of this larger series of battles, Nelson introduces nine individuals: John R. Baylor, a Texas legislator who established the Confederate Territory of Arizona; Louisa Hawkins Canby, a Union Army wife who nursed Confederate soldiers back to health in Santa Fe; James Carleton, a professional soldier who engineered campaigns against Navajos and Apaches; Kit Carson, a famous frontiersman who led a regiment of volunteers against the Texans, Navajos, Kiowas, and Comanches; Juanita, a Navajo weaver who resisted Union campaigns against her people; Bill Davidson, a soldier who fought in all of the Confederacy’s major battles in New Mexico; Alonzo Ickis, an Iowa-born gold miner who fought on the side of the Union; John Clark, a friend of Abraham Lincoln’s who embraced the Republican vision for the West as New Mexico’s surveyor-general; and Mangas Coloradas, a revered Chiricahua Apache chief who worked to expand Apache territory in Arizona. As we learn how these nine charismatic individuals fought for self-determination and control of the region, we also see the importance of individual actions in the midst of a larger military conflict. Based on letters and diaries, military records and oral histories, and photographs and maps from the time, “this history of invasions, battles, and forced migration shapes the United States to this day—and has never been told so well” (Pulitzer Prize–winning author T.J. Stiles).
Reforging a Forgotten History
Author: Sargon Donabed
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748686037
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
Who are the Assyrians and what role did they play in shaping modern Iraq? Were they simply bystanders, victims of collateral damage who played a passive role in the history of Iraq? And how have they negotiated their position throughout various periods of Iraq's state-building processes?This book details the narrative and history of Iraq in the 20th century and reinserts the Assyrian experience as an integral part of Iraq's broader contemporary historiography. It is the first comprehensive account to contextualize this native people's experience alongside the developmental processes of the modern Iraqi state. Using primary and secondary data, this book offers a nuanced exploration of the dynamics that have affected and determined the trajectory of the Assyrians' experience in 20th century Iraq.
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 0748686037
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
Who are the Assyrians and what role did they play in shaping modern Iraq? Were they simply bystanders, victims of collateral damage who played a passive role in the history of Iraq? And how have they negotiated their position throughout various periods of Iraq's state-building processes?This book details the narrative and history of Iraq in the 20th century and reinserts the Assyrian experience as an integral part of Iraq's broader contemporary historiography. It is the first comprehensive account to contextualize this native people's experience alongside the developmental processes of the modern Iraqi state. Using primary and secondary data, this book offers a nuanced exploration of the dynamics that have affected and determined the trajectory of the Assyrians' experience in 20th century Iraq.
Fugitive Landscapes
Author: Samuel Truett
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300135327
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271
Book Description
Published in Cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest StudiesIn the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mexicans and Americans joined together to transform the U.S.–Mexico borderlands into a crossroads of modern economic development. This book reveals the forgotten story of their ambitious dreams and their ultimate failure to control this fugitive terrain. Focusing on a mining region that spilled across the Arizona–Sonora border, this book shows how entrepreneurs, corporations, and statesmen tried to domesticate nature and society within a transnational context. Efforts to tame a “wild” frontier were stymied by labor struggles, social conflict, and revolution. Fugitive Landscapes explores the making and unmaking of the U.S.–Mexico border, telling how ordinary people resisted the domination of empires, nations, and corporations to shape transnational history on their own terms. By moving beyond traditional national narratives, it offers new lessons for our own border-crossing age.
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300135327
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271
Book Description
Published in Cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest StudiesIn the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Mexicans and Americans joined together to transform the U.S.–Mexico borderlands into a crossroads of modern economic development. This book reveals the forgotten story of their ambitious dreams and their ultimate failure to control this fugitive terrain. Focusing on a mining region that spilled across the Arizona–Sonora border, this book shows how entrepreneurs, corporations, and statesmen tried to domesticate nature and society within a transnational context. Efforts to tame a “wild” frontier were stymied by labor struggles, social conflict, and revolution. Fugitive Landscapes explores the making and unmaking of the U.S.–Mexico border, telling how ordinary people resisted the domination of empires, nations, and corporations to shape transnational history on their own terms. By moving beyond traditional national narratives, it offers new lessons for our own border-crossing age.
The Six Days of Genesis
Author: Paul Taylor
Publisher: New Leaf Publishing Group
ISBN: 0890514992
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 222
Book Description
Discover the five powerful truths within the phrase "In the beginning God'."Learn just how closely evolutionists and creationists agree on the division of land and water on the earth.Uncover the biblical clue to where energy came from to explore life processes on an earth without form and void.Explore whether there is any truth to the recolonization theory.Can we really trust Genesis as the literal history of the world? Many modern scholars and scientists would have you believe that you can't, but this fascinating expository study by Paul F. Taylor lays all doubts about the authenticity of the Bible to rest. Follow this spellbinding, verse-by-verse study Taylor takes you on from the Garden of Eden to the Fall to the Table of Nations.Many Christians are alarmed by the disappearance of true biblical teachings in churches and even in many seminaries across America and Britain, but this much-needed resource for teaching prospective clergy and professors will help to battle the disturbing departure from biblical truth. This exciting new tool is a wonderful aid for those who wish to defend against the evolutionary attacks leveled at them by society and sometimes even by the church.
Publisher: New Leaf Publishing Group
ISBN: 0890514992
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 222
Book Description
Discover the five powerful truths within the phrase "In the beginning God'."Learn just how closely evolutionists and creationists agree on the division of land and water on the earth.Uncover the biblical clue to where energy came from to explore life processes on an earth without form and void.Explore whether there is any truth to the recolonization theory.Can we really trust Genesis as the literal history of the world? Many modern scholars and scientists would have you believe that you can't, but this fascinating expository study by Paul F. Taylor lays all doubts about the authenticity of the Bible to rest. Follow this spellbinding, verse-by-verse study Taylor takes you on from the Garden of Eden to the Fall to the Table of Nations.Many Christians are alarmed by the disappearance of true biblical teachings in churches and even in many seminaries across America and Britain, but this much-needed resource for teaching prospective clergy and professors will help to battle the disturbing departure from biblical truth. This exciting new tool is a wonderful aid for those who wish to defend against the evolutionary attacks leveled at them by society and sometimes even by the church.
Stand by Me
Author: Jim Downs
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 046509855X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
From a prominent young historian, the untold story of the rich variety of gay life in America in the 1970s Despite the tremendous gains of the LGBT movement in recent years, the history of gay life in this country remains poorly understood. According to conventional wisdom, gay liberation started with the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969. The 1970s represented a moment of triumph -- both political and sexual -- before the AIDS crisis in the subsequent decade, which, in the view of many, exposed the problems inherent in the so-called "gay lifestyle". In Stand by Me, the acclaimed historian Jim Downs rewrites the history of gay life in the 1970s, arguing that the decade was about much more than sex and marching in the streets. Drawing on a vast trove of untapped records at LGBT community centers in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, Downs tells moving, revelatory stories of gay people who stood together -- as friends, fellow believers, and colleagues -- to create a sense of community among people who felt alienated from mainstream American life. As Downs shows, gay people found one another in the Metropolitan Community Church, a nationwide gay religious group; in the pages of the Body Politic, a newspaper that encouraged its readers to think of their sexuality as a political identity; at the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the hub of gay literary life in New York City; and at theaters putting on "Gay American History," a play that brought to the surface the enduring problem of gay oppression. These and many other achievements would be largely forgotten after the arrival in the early 1980s of HIV/AIDS, which allowed critics to claim that sex was the defining feature of gay liberation. This reductive narrative set back the cause of gay rights and has shaped the identities of gay people for decades. An essential act of historical recovery, Stand by Me shines a bright light on a triumphant moment, and will transform how we think about gay life in America from the 1970s into the present day.
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 046509855X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
From a prominent young historian, the untold story of the rich variety of gay life in America in the 1970s Despite the tremendous gains of the LGBT movement in recent years, the history of gay life in this country remains poorly understood. According to conventional wisdom, gay liberation started with the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969. The 1970s represented a moment of triumph -- both political and sexual -- before the AIDS crisis in the subsequent decade, which, in the view of many, exposed the problems inherent in the so-called "gay lifestyle". In Stand by Me, the acclaimed historian Jim Downs rewrites the history of gay life in the 1970s, arguing that the decade was about much more than sex and marching in the streets. Drawing on a vast trove of untapped records at LGBT community centers in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, Downs tells moving, revelatory stories of gay people who stood together -- as friends, fellow believers, and colleagues -- to create a sense of community among people who felt alienated from mainstream American life. As Downs shows, gay people found one another in the Metropolitan Community Church, a nationwide gay religious group; in the pages of the Body Politic, a newspaper that encouraged its readers to think of their sexuality as a political identity; at the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the hub of gay literary life in New York City; and at theaters putting on "Gay American History," a play that brought to the surface the enduring problem of gay oppression. These and many other achievements would be largely forgotten after the arrival in the early 1980s of HIV/AIDS, which allowed critics to claim that sex was the defining feature of gay liberation. This reductive narrative set back the cause of gay rights and has shaped the identities of gay people for decades. An essential act of historical recovery, Stand by Me shines a bright light on a triumphant moment, and will transform how we think about gay life in America from the 1970s into the present day.
From Noah to Hercules
Author: Brian Forbes
Publisher: Tate Publishing
ISBN: 1617394289
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 198
Book Description
How far back does history go? What did the inventers of writing say about where people come from? How could anyone believe in the pagan gods? Why do so many cultures have a seven-day week? Does history repeat itself? What could we read to find this stuff out? And what about those gods of Greece? Who thought of them, and what made their beliefs strong enough to spend vast sums to honor them, even across language barriers? What about Noah and his flood? What about Babel? How do they all fit together? In From Noah to Hercules, Brian Forbes answers these questions by investigating various accounts of the origins of mankind. Forbes draws on Scripture, history, and science to argue that many gods and mythical figures from civilizations past were actually historic figures. Forbes goes on to conclude that many mythological stories are historically accurate if you remove some of the more fantastic elements. Forbes offers a fascinating account of early man based on ancient history and mythology. He will change the way you think about our history and our ancestors.
Publisher: Tate Publishing
ISBN: 1617394289
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 198
Book Description
How far back does history go? What did the inventers of writing say about where people come from? How could anyone believe in the pagan gods? Why do so many cultures have a seven-day week? Does history repeat itself? What could we read to find this stuff out? And what about those gods of Greece? Who thought of them, and what made their beliefs strong enough to spend vast sums to honor them, even across language barriers? What about Noah and his flood? What about Babel? How do they all fit together? In From Noah to Hercules, Brian Forbes answers these questions by investigating various accounts of the origins of mankind. Forbes draws on Scripture, history, and science to argue that many gods and mythical figures from civilizations past were actually historic figures. Forbes goes on to conclude that many mythological stories are historically accurate if you remove some of the more fantastic elements. Forbes offers a fascinating account of early man based on ancient history and mythology. He will change the way you think about our history and our ancestors.
The Last Embassy
Author: Tonio Andrade
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691219885
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424
Book Description
From the acclaimed author of The Gunpowder Age, a book that casts new light on the history of China and the West at the turn of the nineteenth century George Macartney's disastrous 1793 mission to China plays a central role in the prevailing narrative of modern Sino-European relations. Summarily dismissed by the Qing court, Macartney failed in nearly all of his objectives, perhaps setting the stage for the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century and the mistrust that still marks the relationship today. But not all European encounters with China were disastrous. The Last Embassy tells the story of the Dutch mission of 1795, bringing to light a dramatic but little-known episode that transforms our understanding of the history of China and the West. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, Tonio Andrade paints a panoramic and multifaceted portrait of an age marked by intrigues and war. China was on the brink of rebellion. In Europe, French armies were invading Holland. Enduring a harrowing voyage, the Dutch mission was to be the last European diplomatic delegation ever received in the traditional Chinese court. Andrade shows how, in contrast to the British emissaries, the Dutch were men with deep knowledge of Asia who respected regional diplomatic norms and were committed to understanding China on its own terms. Beautifully illustrated with sketches and paintings by Chinese and European artists, The Last Embassy suggests that the Qing court, often mischaracterized as arrogant and narrow-minded, was in fact open, flexible, curious, and cosmopolitan.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691219885
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424
Book Description
From the acclaimed author of The Gunpowder Age, a book that casts new light on the history of China and the West at the turn of the nineteenth century George Macartney's disastrous 1793 mission to China plays a central role in the prevailing narrative of modern Sino-European relations. Summarily dismissed by the Qing court, Macartney failed in nearly all of his objectives, perhaps setting the stage for the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century and the mistrust that still marks the relationship today. But not all European encounters with China were disastrous. The Last Embassy tells the story of the Dutch mission of 1795, bringing to light a dramatic but little-known episode that transforms our understanding of the history of China and the West. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, Tonio Andrade paints a panoramic and multifaceted portrait of an age marked by intrigues and war. China was on the brink of rebellion. In Europe, French armies were invading Holland. Enduring a harrowing voyage, the Dutch mission was to be the last European diplomatic delegation ever received in the traditional Chinese court. Andrade shows how, in contrast to the British emissaries, the Dutch were men with deep knowledge of Asia who respected regional diplomatic norms and were committed to understanding China on its own terms. Beautifully illustrated with sketches and paintings by Chinese and European artists, The Last Embassy suggests that the Qing court, often mischaracterized as arrogant and narrow-minded, was in fact open, flexible, curious, and cosmopolitan.