This is the story of a failed attempt by the British, in 1793, to open the Chinese Empire to Western trade. Led by Lord Macartney, whose distinguished diplomatic posts included India and the Caribbean, the enormous British expedition of nearly 700 men included doctors, scholars, painters, musicians, soldiers and young aristocrats, and lasted more than two years, and its success would have redefined the history of the 19th and 20th centuries. The author has made use of a variety of sources, including, on the British side, the diary of the 12-year-old Thomas Stanton, son of Macartney's deputy, who was the only person in the whole English fleet who spoke Chinese, and, on the Chinese side, the newly discovered secret reports of the Emperor's officials, all annotated by the Emperor himself.

Alain Peyrefitte (Najac, Aveyron, 26 August 1925 – Paris, 27 November 1999) was a French scholar and politician. He was a confidant of Charles De Gaulle and had a long career in public service, serving as a diplomat in Germany and Poland. He was Minister of Information from 1962 to 1966, establishing the rules of presidential debates between the two electoral rounds. He served as Minister of Justice from 1977 to 1981, and was involved in the affair surrounding the mysterious death of Robert Boulin in 1979. He became a member of the Académie française in 1977.