Webs of Smoke

the long version

Tracing the rise of the modern traffic in narcotics, this pioneering history offers a unique account of the evolution in narcotics trafficking as drugs went from legal commodity to illicit substance. To flourish in the new order, traffickers needed political connections, and political connections were readily made in China's chaotic environment of civil war and imperial rivalry. In a word, drug traffickers flourished because they were useful to various parties: warlords, organized criminals, Chiang Kaishek's Guomindang, Mao's communists, spies, and Japanese adventurers. The authors tell the interlocking stories of the many extraordinary personalities - sinister and otherwise - involved in narcotics trafficking. Drawing on a rich store of U.S., British, European, Japanese, and Chinese archives, this unique study will be invaluable for all readers interested in the drug trade and contemporary East Asian history.