Mementoes of HMS Tamar abound in Hong Kong, but what is really known about this troopship and her role in the maintenance of British imperial rule? Using logbooks, newspapers, and numerous other sources, this book pieces together the multifaceted and largely unknown history of the Tamar . From her launch into service to her roles as a hospital, theatre stage, and transport for military personnel, the Tamar carried not just people, but also their mundane dreams and ambitions— for friends, families, and staying alive. Any ideas or concerns about sustaining the empire seldom featured in their minds at all, but it was this empire that the Tamar served for seventy-nine years, steaming the equivalent of thirty-two times around the Earth and transporting tens of thousands of people to what would seem to them another world. In this engaging narrative, the Tamar’s exploits and the experiences of her crew and passengers parallel those of the British Empire and its subjects, bringing to life t
1856年10月，廣東水師登上一艘據說掛着英國旗的划艇，拘捕船上中國船員，水師懷疑該船涉及走私和其他不法勾當。英國駐廣州署理領事巴夏禮指中國水師扯下和「侮辱」船上英國旗。自此事件不斷鬧大，最終演化成歐洲列強和美國聯手對付中華帝國的大戰，歷時將近五年。本書是黃宇和院士在其於1998 年由英國劍橋大學出版社出版的名著Deadly Dreams: Opium, Imperialism and the Arrow War (1856-1860) in China 的基礎上，再用了二十多年的時間修訂和增補而成。本書以第二次鴉片戰爭為個案，對中外學術界提出的各種有關戰爭起因的解釋方案作出比較，詳辨其間闕誤及由來，從宏觀和微觀層面，剖析帝國主義的實質本性。作者利用大量中英文原始文獻，結合實地調查，逐層分析引發第二次鴉片戰爭中帝國主義的侵略藉口、悍將心理、外交手段、政治邏輯和運作方式，直趨經濟利益層面，由此展現出英帝國主義為了發動此次侵略戰爭所積極謀劃的每一個步驟，以及背後的動機。
