There were many great leaders during the
period of the late 1800s to the mid-1900s that held themselves to a moralistic,
opium opposing code. There was a great many more individuals, and companies
that fell into the pit of hypocrisy and greed, serving their own
self-interests, political agendas, and bank accounts. The book Webs of Smoke
gives an in depth narrative of the opium trade, and the way the web of
smuggling opium was sown around the world. It provides the needed proof that
the global smuggling web wasn’t a government conspiracy as many have believed.
Webs of
Smoke was written by Kathryn Meyer and Terry Parssinen. Both
were highly educated in general and in respect to the information throughout
the book. Kathryn Meyer graduated with
her bachelors from the University of Vermont, and received her doctorate from
Temple University. She was a professor of East Asian History and was a teacher
at Temple University-Japan, Ohio Wesleyan University, Lafayette College, and
Wright State University. She was awarded a National Endowment for the
Humanities fellowship for support in research for this book. Terry Parssinen
graduated with Bachelors from Grinnel College and his Ph.D. from Brandeis
University. Both were in history. He was a teacher at Grinnel College, Temple
University, the University of Maryland, College Park, and the University of
Tampa. He has previous writing experience in the narcotics trade. (WOS: about
the authors) Both of these authors have significant experience necessary in
order to be professionals writing a book such as this. They used countless case
files, books, and interviews in order to combine all of the needed information
to present a historical story of the days before during and after the peak of
the illicit opium smuggling days.
As
the book highlights throughout the beginning chapters, in the middle nineteenth
century, the opium trade was something that went about without much hassle.
Traffickers in opium saw it as just another commodity that they could use a
good profit maker because it had low bulk and high value however, this low
hassle profit maker wouldn’t last long. 1906 marked the year that the British,
Americans, and Chinese would work toward regulations that would rid illegal
uses of opium within ten years. (WOS 2)
There
were several key players that would be at the forefront of this mission to
eradicate illicit opium use: Sir Malcolm Delevingne and Harry Anslinger. They
would make their careers sole purpose eradicating the practice of smuggling,
and using opiates. Their careers were plagued with problems from beginning to
end. They were plagued with uncooperative countries that had lenient sentences
for criminals caught trafficking, politicians and movements that used opium to
their advantage, wars that stalled conferences, resourceful smugglers and crime
rings that found new sources when others dried up.
It
is unfortunate that their careers were so plagued with problems. Their mission
would have been much more successful if it weren’t for the rampant hypocrisy
throughout the world in relation to opium use. Instead of ultimate success in
all areas there was an enduring legend that the political world imposed genocide
among different ethnic groups, such as was the case with the article “Dark
Alliance” when the author accused a link between the CIA and the cocaine
traffickers that sold to the black community. (WOS 278)
The
book does a good job throughout proving that rampant political hypocrisy was
the reason that certain ethnic groups fell into the grips of opium, not a
global conspiracy to impoverish certain ethnic groups. Every country was
guilty, to a degree, of providing china with opium to further their cause. The
British, Turks, Japanese, Chinese military leaders, and even the Chinese
Communist party, as well as others all had some involvement with providing
Chinese citizenry with opium. When it was legal, the British were a major
shipper of the drug, but they were willing to gradually reduce the supply “if
the Chinese could demonstrate a willingness to end opium use in their kingdom.”
(WOS 42) As all sides worked towards tighter control the supply of opium
shifted from a legitimate shipping source to more nefarious illicit
trafficking. That was the point in the book where the magnifying glass
transitioned from countrywide scope of shipping, to the individual groups. Some
were corrupt politicians that turned a blind eye, some were warlords using the
opium as a source of funding, some were businessmen who needed capital; and
others militant organizations looking for a way to rise in power. The
interesting thing is that none of these groups could really function
independently of one another. They needed cohorts from other groups that wanted
either money or drugs, or both, to be able to accomplish their missions.
One
interesting example was the case of Du Yuesheng, Huang Jinrong, and Zhang
Xiaolin. “The men belonged to the Green Gang, a secret society that dominated the
wharves and water transport along the Yangzi River.” (WOS 145) These men were
involved in many things, but they were also interested in shipping opium for
cash. This was troubling because being caught was never good for future
business prospects. “Huang brought to the opium organization a second crucial
link for success: police contracts.” (WOS 146)
This
evidence is central to the premise of the book, as well as other similar tracts,
because it shows that the whole government itself typically wasn’t involved
with the trafficking of narcotics. It was dirty dealings between organized
crime rings and corruptible government officials. Often government officials
would be bribed to turn a blind eye, sometimes they were also members of the
crime racket itself. It was hypocrisy of government officials, not a
clandestine conspiracy theory.
Though the
book is very good at narrating a general timeline but, it is slightly chopped
up from chapter to chapter. Instead of a normal general from beginning to end
story, it is more like a textbook used for chapter learning. All of the
chapters cover and recover a slowly progressing timeline, but each chapter is a
story in its own category. Such as a chapter on warlords from the period of
1916 to 1937(WOS 141), then the following chapter involving soldiers of
fortune, which covers 1927 to 1937(WOS 175). Each is like its own book. The
reader has to remember the names from chapter to chapter to gain the ability to
put any general storyline together. Such as with the fact of the quick mention
of Harry Anslinger in the beginning, and then the whole chapter involving him
near the end. That choppiness is somewhat troublesome for character
development. It was time consuming at times to go back and re-read a section on
a specific person, such as Goto Shimpei. He was mentioned, and briefly talked
about seven times, over the course of about one hundred pages.
This book
could have benefited with a better linearized track from the beginning to the
end. A good book to use as an example for a more linear path would be The
Lizard King: True Crimes and Passions of the World’s Greatest Reptile Smugglers
by Bryan Christy. Both of these books were very similar in the smugglers actions
throughout them. Smugglers in both instances operated in much the same way:
fake shipping labels, fake compartments, dirty deals, paid off officials, and
double crosses all to make money from a low bulk item. It was just easier to
follow Christy’s book than it was it follow Meyer’s and Parssinen’s book.
Webs of
Smoke is definitely a book worth reading. Most people have
passing knowledge of the fact that China had opium dens, but outside of movies
and pop culture, most people don’t know what really happened during the war on
opium. The authors do a good job of informing the prospective reader about the
major events surrounding the trade, and, many minor events and players in the
trade. With a little imagination, the reader is able to imagine being in the
opium dens watching the users smoke opium. They are able to imagine being a fly
on the wall listening to all of the backroom planning needed to coordinate a
big shipment, or seeing paid off officials just brush by what they know are
chests full of opium. It was an in depth historical story of the action, deals,
money, and treachery of the big players on both sides of the law. It portrayed
a real wild-west story during the turbulent years before, during and after the
world wars.
