This is three-dimensional historiography at its best. From the first European voyages of exploration to the Indian Mutiny and the independence of East Timor, British historian Arthur Cotterell traces the decline of Western power in Asia with a sense of astonishment at its labored beginnings and swift end. Like hyenas, the European powers struck their Asian prey when they sensed a weakening body politic, sick state or failing kingdom. The impunity with which this was done epitomized the colonial powers' sense of entitlement toward occupied territories.
The author contrasts, for example, the early marine expeditions of the Ming and those of their Portuguese contemporaries. Whereas the latter built fortresses, spread terror and enlarged their slaving trade, Chinese fleets engaged in diplomacy free of missionary and crusader zeal. As Cotterell puts it: "There was no Chinese equivalent of the Portuguese habit of sailing into port with corpses hanging from the yards."