Account

Company

  Menu

Description

A fascinating history of China's relations with the West -- told through the lives of two eighteenth-century translators

The 1793 British embassy to China, which led to Lord George Macartney's fraught encounter with the Qianlong emperor, has often been viewed as a clash of cultures fueled by the East's lack of interest in the West. In The Perils of Interpreting, Henrietta Harrison presents a more nuanced picture, ingeniously shifting the historical lens to focus on Macartney's two interpreters at that meeting -- Li Zibiao and George Thomas Staunton. Who were these two men? How did they intervene in the exchanges that they mediated? And what did these exchanges mean for them? From Galway to Chengde, and from political intrigues to personal encounters, Harrison reassesses a pivotal moment in relations between China and Britain. She shows that there were Chinese who were familiar with the West, but growing tensions endangered those who embraced both cultures and would eventually culminate in the Opium Wars.

Harrison demonstrates that the Qing court's ignorance about the British did not simply happen, but was manufactured through the repression of cultural go-betweens like Li and Staunton. She traces Li's influence as Macartney's interpreter, the pressures Li faced in China as a result, and his later years in hiding. Staunton interpreted successfully for the British East India Company in Canton, but as Chinese anger grew against British imperial expansion in South Asia, he was compelled to flee to England. Harrison contends that in silencing expert voices, the Qing court missed an opportunity to gain insights that might have prevented a losing conflict with Britain.

Uncovering the lives of two overlooked figures, The Perils of Interpreting offers an empathic argument for cross-cultural understanding in a connected world.

Tag This Book

This Book Has Been Tagged
It hasn't. Be the first to tag this book!

Our Recommendation

Track It. This book has been $1.99 within the past year.

Notify Me When The Price...

  • If I'm already tracking this book

to track this book on eReaderIQ.

Track These Authors

to track Henrietta Harrison on eReaderIQ.

  • to be notified each time the price drops on any book by Henrietta Harrison.
  • to stop tracking Henrietta Harrison.

Price Summary

  • We started tracking this book on September 5, 2023.
  • This book was $13.17 when we started tracking it.
  • The price of this book has changed 5 times in the past 689 days.
  • The current price of this book is $20.70 last checked 10 hours ago.
  • This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past 90 days is $13.17.
  • This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $1.99.
  • The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on April 2, 2025.
  • This book has been $1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
  • The highest price to date was $20.70 last reached on July 18, 2025.
  • This book has been $20.70 2 times since we started tracking it.
  • This book is currently at its highest price since we started tracking it.

Genres

Additional Info

  • Publication Date: November 9, 2021
  • Text-to-Speech: Disabled
  • Lending: Disabled
  • Print Length: 345 Pages
  • File Size: 380 KB

We last verified the price of this book about 10 hours ago. At that time, the price was $20.70. This price is subject to change. The price displayed on the Amazon.com website at the time of purchase is the price you will pay for this book. Please confirm the price before making any purchases.