Allies, enemies or a bit of both? The complicated lives of British merchants in the China of the 1850s: The case of George Stormont Spreckley

This article considers the life of a merchant from Liverpool who spent the years from 1851 to 1853 in Shanghai during the Taiping Rebellion. It deals with the complicated relationships between American, British and Chinese officials and merchants. It is concerned with the recreational, mercantile, military and political life in Shanghai during that period.