Research Catalog
Free Trade's First Missionary Sir John Bowring in Europe and Asia
- Title
- Free Trade's First Missionary [electronic resource] : Sir John Bowring in Europe and Asia / Philip Bowring.
- Author
- Bowring, Philip.
- Publication
- Baltimore, Maryland : Project Muse, 2014
- Hong Kong [China] : Hong Kong University Press, [2014]
Details
- Additional Authors
- Project Muse.
- Description
- 1 online resource (1 PDF (xii, 281 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates) :) : illustrations (some color)
- Summary
- Reformer, intellectual, colonial governor, Sir John Bowring was the archetype of the ambitious men who made Britain a leading global power in the nineteenth century. Born to a modest trading family, he showed an aptitude for languages which led him to literature, then to radical politics in the struggles for liberty in France, Spain and Greece. Taken up by the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, he became a figure in the literary world. But his emphasis was on action rather than theories. He became a high-profile advocate of free trade and a liberal foe of Karl Marx. As member of parliament he supported full suffrage and other radical causes. He modernized Britain's public accounts, invented the florin as a first step to decimalization, and became an industrial entrepreneur. Losing his money in the 1848 slump, he took a job as consul in Canton, which led to the governorship of Hong Kong. As Britain's Plenipotentiary in East Asia he negotiated a key treaty with the King Mongkut of Siam but also started a war with China. His term as governor of Hong Kong was plagued with problems. But there as elsewhere he left a legacy of liberal ideas. Bowring's impact was spread over so many fields that his name has been eclipsed by those with a narrower focus. This book brings his life and disparate achievements together, with a particular emphasis on his role in promoting free trade and his much criticized career in Asia.
- Uniform Title
- Free Trade's First Missionary (Online)
- Book collections on Project MUSE.
- Alternative Title
- Free Trade's First Missionary (Online)
- Subject
- Bowring, John, 1792-1872
- Free trade > History > 19th century
- Linguists > Great Britain > Biography
- Diplomats > Great Britain > Biography
- Legislators > Great Britain > Biography
- Asia > Relations > Great Britain
- Great Britain > Relations > Asia
- Europe > Relations > Great Britain
- Great Britain > Relations > Europe
- Note
- Issued as part of book collections on Project MUSE.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [253]-262).
- Access (note)
- Access restricted to authorized users.
- Source of Description (note)
- Description based on print version record.
- Contents
- Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Exeter lad's radical roots -- War, Spain and the Unitarians -- Bentham's favourite son -- A poisonous Greek pie -- Polyglot poet meets Kubla Khan -- Reforming politics and public accounts -- The new gospel : free trade -- Of Egypt and Levantine plagues -- Bolton : pit of poverty and progress -- Progressive MP coins the florin -- An ironmaster derails -- Opiate of various peoples -- Frustration at Canton -- Some progress on the China coast -- Arrow ploy sunk by ye -- The War of Two Bruces -- Hong Kong : good input, little output -- High-minded humiliation -- The king and he : a lasting legacy -- Philippine fiesta -- A new wife and energy to the end -- Conclusion : why he matters -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
- OCLC
- ssj0001339358
- Author
- Bowring, Philip.
- Title
- Free Trade's First Missionary [electronic resource] : Sir John Bowring in Europe and Asia / Philip Bowring.
- Imprint
- Baltimore, Maryland : Project Muse, 2014 (Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2015)Hong Kong [China] : Hong Kong University Press, [2014] (Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2015)
- Series
- Book collections on Project MUSE.
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [253]-262).
- Access
- Access restricted to authorized users.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
- Project Muse.
- Other Form:
- Print version: 9789888208722