false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170448537m/55127.jpg 55127 6 During the 19th century, rapacious colonial powers squeezed China mercilessly, seizing territory and extorting profits while missionaries sought souls. In the late 1890s, a virulently resentful peasant movement spread across northern China; foreigners nicknamed its adherents "Boxers" for the martial-arts exercises they practiced en masse. When the movement erupted into open violence in 1900, the imperial government supported attacks on foreigners that escalated into a siege of the foreign embassies in Peking. Diana Preston's <I>The Boxer Rebellion</I> is an account of the 55-day confrontation that alarmed the world. When Western and Japanese troops eventually routed the Boxers, soldiers and civilians looted the capital (to the benefit of Western museums) and extracted yet more concessions from China. The events of 1900 showed both sides at their colorful worst, and the author spares neither Chinese cruelty nor colonial pomposity and racism. Though this narrative history is told almost entirely from a Western viewpoint--of the 200 titles in the bibliography, not one is in Chinese--the many diaries and letters that Preston consulted ensure a lively portrayal of personalities and evocation of the times. She enjoys racy rumors, whether substantiated or not, and is so enamored of the charlatan Backhouse's salacious claims that he had an affair with the Dowager Empress that she details them twice. With little analysis but all the pace and immediacy of a popular novel, <I>The Boxer Rebellion</I> makes for absorbing reading. <I>--John Stevenson</I> 53714 1999 The Boxer Rebellion: The Dramatic Story of China's War on Foreigners that Shook the World in the Summer of 1900 total:77|5:14|4:32|3:26|2:5|1:0| 77 286 113 12 4 0 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Mon Jun 22 21:45:15 -0700 2009 Sat Nov 28 19:30:58 -0800 2009
Having said that I still found this book a delight to read once it...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 09 14:07:27 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 14:07:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jun 11 19:23:04 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 15:19:22 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Apr 16 22:13:21 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 16 22:13:21 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Mon Jun 15 18:41:58 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 18:45:52 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Jun 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 04 00:18:22 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 09:28:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu May 17 13:32:51 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 19 19:35:33 -0800 2007 2 0 false false Sun Jan 06 19:14:55 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 06 19:16:11 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sat Oct 27 21:18:28 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 27 21:20:50 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Wed Jul 16 04:33:05 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 03 13:59:59 -0800 2008 Wed Jul 16 04:33:05 -0700 2008 So far, bleak.
I'll let you know.
But if you know somthing about Chinese history.
It's beyond fucked up.]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jul 28 19:34:57 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 12 16:35:42 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Sun Jul 13 12:46:54 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 13 12:47:32 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Wed Nov 25 16:10:32 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 25 16:10:32 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Tue Nov 10 07:13:39 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 07:13:39 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 22 13:08:13 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 13:08:13 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Oct 13 08:19:17 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 08:19:17 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Oct 12 16:56:20 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 16:56:28 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Oct 01 19:46:54 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 19:46:54 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Nov 19 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Wed Sep 23 21:14:42 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 21:15:14 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Sep 18 20:27:09 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 20:27:09 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=55127