卜正民将体制与意识的综合考察作为本书史论结合的主线，文中十八篇文章组成一段以鸦片为核心的连贯历史。勾勒了跨越一百三十年，焦点集中于政治和经济影响下的东亚地区的鸦片贸易。第一部分介绍了十九世纪鸦片贸易的基础；第二部分考察鸦片在中国如何被分运和消耗；第三部分研究国家与地方努力控制鸦片的方式，以及这些方式如何进一步推动近代中国政府的统一与权力渗透；第四部分分析日本利用鸦片对现有鸦片政权的冲击。

在某幅畫中，一名荷蘭軍官彎身靠向一名大笑的女孩。另一幅畫中，有個女人在窗邊秤銀子的重量。又一幅畫中，水果從瓷碗中滿出，掉在土耳其地毯上。維梅爾的畫作，以其美麗和神秘叫人看後久久難忘，但那些以高明手法呈現的場景，其背後有著什麼故事？
一如卜正民教授在《維梅爾之帽》中所闡明的，這些看似溫馨小品的畫作，其實開啟了歷史之門，通過那些門，可一探過去一個快速擴張的世界。那軍官頭上的時髦帽子，以海狸毛皮製成，海狸毛皮則是歐洲探險家在美洲以武器從原住民那裡所換來。海狸毛皮反過來又為那些想找出通往中國之新路線的水手，提供了航行探險經費。而在中國，歐洲人將以採自秘魯的白銀，購買數以千計在當時荷蘭繪畫裡頻頻出現的瓷器。
卜正民探明那個成長快速的貿易網，將海狸毛皮、土耳其地毯、或中國瓷碗帶進台夫特某個客廳的貿易網。走訪荷蘭的法國人笛卡兒，稱荷蘭的碼頭，「貨物無奇不有」。《維梅爾之帽》正告訴我們那些貨物多麼無奇不有，以及欲取得那些貨物的強烈欲望，如何以任何人所無法想像的程度，徹底改造世界。此書讓我們對維梅爾的畫和那些畫所描繪的時代，都有了嶄新而深廣的理解。

The Ming dynasty was the last great Chinese dynasty before the Manchu conquest in 1644. During that time, China, not Europe, was the center of the world: the European voyages of exploration were searching not just for new lands but also for new trade routes to the Far East. In this book, Timothy Brook eloquently narrates the changing landscape of life over the three centuries of the Ming (1368-1644), when China was transformed from a closely administered agrarian realm into a place of commercial profits and intense competition for status.
The Confusions of Pleasure marks a significant departure from the conventional ways in which Chinese history has been written. Rather than recounting the Ming dynasty in a series of political events and philosophical achievements, it narrates this longue durée in terms of the habits and strains of everyday life. Peppered with stories of real people and their negotiations of a rapidly changing world, this book provides a new way of seeing the Ming dynasty that not only contributes to the scholarly understanding of the period but also provides an entertaining and accessible introduction to Chinese history for anyone.