The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in China
[T]houghtful and concisely told . . . Silbey excels at the military history.” —Howard W. French,The Wall Street Journal“[A] concise, lively account.” —Publishers Weekly“Silbey furnishes fluent, scholastically sound reading for general interest in modern Chinese history.” —Booklist“Recommended for readers interested in military history as well as modern Chinese history.” —Allan Cho,Library Journal“In this absorbing analysis of the military history of the Boxer conflict, David J. Silbey shows how swiftly the Boxers learned from their foreign enemies, and how close the foreign forces came to catastrophe.The Boxer Rebellionis a valuable addition to our histories of warfare and revolution in China.” —Jonathan Spence, Sterling Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University, and author ofThe Search for Modern China“It is news even to many informed Americans that the present Chinese government has closely studied a military invasion (involving thousands of U.S. troops) of China more than a century ago. David J. Silbey now tells the story of that historic intervention, complete with the formidable Chinese, European, Japanese, and American characters, and the needed historical contexts. He has accomplished this with a gemlike narrative that is as page-turning as it is succinct.” —Walter LaFeber, Tisch University Professor Emeritus, Cornell University“David J. Silbey has done students, teachers, and general readers a great service by presenting the Boxer Rebellion in a lucid and compelling narrative. This book helps us to understand not just what happened in China more than a century ago, but what is happening there now.” —Michael S. Neiberg, author ofFighting the Great War“David J. Silbey has a remarkable capacity for explaining a war from the perspective of various participants and for presenting in a clear and efficient way the political, cultural, strategic, and military factors that shape the course of a war. Readers ofThe Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in Chinawill understand how the joint expedition in 1900 to suppress this popular anti-foreign uprising became a significant turning point in the miserable history of modern imperial expansion into China and Great Power competition over it.” —Alan Lessoff , Professor of History, Illinois State University