Much of our impression of Imperial China and the "culture clash" of Eastern and Western civilization comes from failed British diplomatic missions like that of George Macartney in 1793. Yet a Dutch mission from 1795 was a complete success, perhaps overlooked because it didn't fit the prevailing view. Discovering a trove of documents related to the encounter, the author of The Gunpowder Age gives us this vivid, immersive view of China at the end of the Qing dynasty, suggesting that, far from being "arrogant and narrow-minded," the Dutch found the court to be open, flexible, curious, and cosmopolitan.