author
William H. Brereton
A Hong Kong lawyer and polemicist, he is best known for a fiercely argued Victorian defense of the opium trade. His writing draws on years of firsthand experience in Hong Kong and offers a revealing window into the politics and attitudes of the late 19th century.
1 Audiobook
About the author
William H. Brereton, also identified in historical records as William Henry Brereton, was a solicitor who lived and worked in Hong Kong for many years in the 19th century. Contemporary and library records connect him with Hong Kong and identify him as the author of The Truth About Opium and Story.
In The Truth About Opium, Brereton presented himself as someone writing from direct observation after nearly fifteen years in Hong Kong. The book was written as a rebuttal to anti-opium campaigners and a defense of the Indo-China opium trade, making it a striking example of how imperial-era writers argued over commerce, morality, and public policy.
Brereton died in Hong Kong in 1887. Today, his work is read less as neutral history than as a vivid primary source from its time: useful for understanding the debates, assumptions, and colonial outlook that shaped public argument in the late Victorian world.