The work of Russian military historians A. M. Butakov and A. E. Tizenhausen is devoted to one of the most interesting episodes of the colonial wars - the so-called Opium Wars. For the first time in a thousand-year history, the troops of the Celestial Empire encountered a regular European army, and as a result, China turned into a semi-colony divided into spheres of influence between England, France, the USA and Russia. The book analyzes the reasons for the confrontation between East and West, which essentially carried out the first large-scale “counter-terrorist operation”, describes in detail operations uncharacteristic of “normal” wars, and the actions of expeditionary forces allies, whose forces carried out this campaign. Illustrations published for the first time in Russia, texts of Anglo-Chinese treaties and propaganda materials of that time make this publication truly unique.