This book investigates the operational role and geopolitical influence of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service as a critical instrument of British imperial interests in China between 1854 and 1949. Donna Brunero, a historian specializing in maritime and imperial history, utilizes archival records and administrative correspondence to analyze how foreign officials managed Chinese trade revenue. The work argues that the Customs Service functioned as a hybrid institution, balancing the demands of the Qing and Republican governments with the strategic requirements of Western powers.

Historians and scholars of East Asian trade recognize this work as a detailed examination of the foreign administration's role in Chinese economic history. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the specific focus on the bureaucratic mechanics of the service.