From 1650 onwards the British seized control of the seas, thereby wresting international trade power from the Dutch. London became the next great financial and industrial center, exerting its influence through such monopolies as the British East India Company, which by 1830 had conquered most of India and dominated trade with China.

During this time, opium exports from India to China helped finance the Company's administration of India and paid for imports of porcelain, silk, and - most importantly - tea, to which the British had become heavily addicted. When the Chinese Emperor tried to stop the illegal import of opium into his country, the British answered with the Opium War of 1840-2, one of the most one-sided wars in history.

BLACK MARKET is a fictionalized story focusing on events leading up to the Opium War, as the Company sends an agent to Canton to investigate the situation of British traders who are smuggling opium into China. It illuminates the relationships between the monopoly trading companies and the British Crown, and their determination to impose their collective will on China and its markets.

"Choice Pick... [Curling's and Clayton's] curiously effective amalgam of actuality and simulation reveals some unsuspected truths about the way the wonder bean has also kept commerce and politics in a state of maximum alertness ever since the first revivifying cupful of the brew was swallowed." - The Times (London)

"College courses in international economics and business would find these materials of interest, especially those dealing with problems of emerging economies." - Library Journal

"COMMODITIES delves deep into the quagmire of the World Debt Crisis, providing a powerful argument against the depoliticisation of events like 'Feed the World,' which insists on treating famine relief as an issue unrelated to the politics of inequality." - New Music Express

"Recommended for all libraries." - Choice