Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh - 3 Books Collection Set - Historical Fiction - Paperback

Titles in This Set
Sea of Poppies
River of Smoke
Flood of Fire

Details
Condition: Brand New
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9789526530505
Publisher: John Murray

Overview
The Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh is a sweeping historical fiction saga that follows a vast cast of sailors, migrants, traders, and dreamers across the Indian Ocean during the turbulent years of the opium trade. Beginning aboard the schooner Ibis and spreading from Calcutta to Canton, the three novels braid personal fate with imperial ambition, mapping how commerce, colonialism, and chance reshape ordinary lives. Rich in period detail and told with Ghosh's signature narrative sweep, this paperback collection offers hours of immersive, character-driven historical fiction for readers who love layered, globe-spanning storytelling.

About the Books
Sea of Poppies opens the trilogy in 1830s India, where a diverse group of passengers and crew — a bankrupt raja, an American sailor of mixed race, a widowed village woman, and an opium trader — are thrown together aboard the Ibis as it prepares to sail across the Black Water. River of Smoke follows the Ibis and its scattered passengers into the chaos of Canton's foreign merchant quarter, where fortunes are won and lost in the opium warehouses on the eve of the First Opium War. Flood of Fire brings the trilogy to its climax as the war itself erupts, drawing soldiers, merchants, and refugees from the earlier volumes into a single, explosive convergence of empire and consequence. Across all three novels, Ghosh renders a vanished multilingual, multiethnic world with novelistic precision, populating his pages with characters whose personal ambitions and losses mirror the larger currents of history. The trilogy is celebrated for its meticulous research into 19th-century maritime trade, indentured labor, and the opium economy, as well as for its rich, polyglot dialogue that captures the true texture of a colonial world in flux. Together, the three books form a complete and satisfying arc — from the Ibis's fateful departure to the war that redraws the balance of power between empires. Readers who enjoy historical fiction with real political and economic stakes, alongside intimate human drama, will find this collection a rewarding, long-form reading journey.

Key Benefits

• Complete 3-book paperback set of Amitav Ghosh's acclaimed Ibis Trilogy in one collection
• Sea of Poppies was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, marking the trilogy's literary pedigree
• Sweeping historical fiction spanning Calcutta, Mauritius, Canton, and the high seas of the Indian Ocean
• Rich, research-driven storytelling covering the 19th-century opium trade and the First Opium War
• A great gift for historical fiction readers, book clubs, or fans of richly detailed, character-driven epics
• Brand new paperback copies, ideal for shelf display or as a thoughtful literary gift

Book-by-Book Guide
Sea of Poppies — introduces a diverse cast of passengers and crew bound together aboard the Ibis as it prepares to cross the Black Water toward Mauritius.
River of Smoke — follows survivors of the Ibis's storm into the merchant chaos of Canton on the eve of the First Opium War.
Flood of Fire — closes the trilogy as war breaks out, converging soldiers, traders, and old acquaintances in a dramatic reckoning.

About the Author
Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta in 1956 and studied at the universities of Delhi and Oxford. He is the author of the Ibis Trilogy — Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke, and Flood of Fire — as well as novels including The Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines, and The Glass Palace. Sea of Poppies was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2008, and Ghosh received India's Jnanpith Award in 2018. His fiction is known for combining rigorous historical research with sweeping, character-rich narratives set across Asia and the Indian Ocean world.

Why You'll Love This Collection
This paperback trilogy makes a perfect gift for historical fiction lovers, a thoughtful book club pick, or a cozy addition to your own shelf for holiday season or summer reading. Sweeping, immersive, and meticulously researched, it delivers three complete novels of empire, trade, migration, and human resilience in one deeply satisfying collection.

Please Note: This is the UK edition with the ISBN as listed; the cover may vary slightly from the image shown.