Inspired by comments released in the British press following the 2009 execution in China of a British citizen,Chinese Law in Impenal Eyes seeks to understand the roots of the dominant West interpretation of Chinese law,one that in part still echoes the comments expressed over the case of the ship the Lady Hughesin 1784.Focusing on several pivotal moments in the Sino-West encounter (mainly between Britain and China) between 1740 and 1840,the author depicts the ways in which the image of Chinese law was created and shaped,and how it acquired such lasting power.