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Simon Fonthill #8
The War of the Dragon Lady
The year is 1900 and once again China is plunged into barbaric chaos. The Boxers, a cult of young peasants who blame the foreign barbarians living in their country - particularly the missionaries - for the nation's ills, are rampaging through the country, killing foreigners. China's Dowager Empress - 'The Dragon Lady' - secretly encourages them.
Into this maelstrom land former captain and army scout Simon Fonthill, his wife Alice and '352' Jenkins, Fonthill's former batman and trusted comrade, to visit Alice's uncle, a country missionary. Threatened by the Boxers, the three escort the missionary and his family to the safety of Peking.
En route, the party is attacked by the red-bannered Boxers and the missionary is killed. The survivors reach Peking only to find that the capital is no sanctuary. The Legations of the foreign ministers within the city is surrounded and the Siege of Peking begins. Fonthill, Jenkins and Chang, the missionary's adopted son, volunteer to slip through the enemy lines to bring help. It proves to be Fonthill's most dangerous mission...
Into this maelstrom land former captain and army scout Simon Fonthill, his wife Alice and '352' Jenkins, Fonthill's former batman and trusted comrade, to visit Alice's uncle, a country missionary. Threatened by the Boxers, the three escort the missionary and his family to the safety of Peking.
En route, the party is attacked by the red-bannered Boxers and the missionary is killed. The survivors reach Peking only to find that the capital is no sanctuary. The Legations of the foreign ministers within the city is surrounded and the Siege of Peking begins. Fonthill, Jenkins and Chang, the missionary's adopted son, volunteer to slip through the enemy lines to bring help. It proves to be Fonthill's most dangerous mission...
162 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 2012
4 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
John Wilcox
19 books33 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Wilcox started out as a local reporter and journalist in Birmingham before spending many years in industry, which took him all round the world. He finally sold his company to devote himself to writing full-time. He lives in Salisbury.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Wilcox started out as a local reporter and journalist in Birmingham before spending many years in industry, which took him all round the world. He finally sold his company to devote himself to writing full-time. He lives in Salisbury.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 3, 2022
Read this book in 2012, and its the 9th volume, chronologically, of the wonderful "Simon Fonthill" series.
The year is AD 1900, and China is in total chaos, with the Boxers is their main danger towards missionaries, and that all for the land's ills, and these Boxers are rampaging through the country with foreigners are their favourite persons to kill.
In this chaos the Boxers will get the support of China's Dowager Empress The Dragon Lady, and in this hostile circumstances, Simon Fonthill, his wife Alice, and their friend '352' Jenkins are in search of Alice's uncle, who's a missionary.
When they flee towards the city of Peking, the party gets attacked by these Boxers and the missionary gets killed, and those who survive this deadly encounter will find in Peking no safe haven.
Soon the Siege of Peking, and Fonthill, Jenkins and Chang, the missionary's adopted son volunteer to slip though the enemy lines in a desperate effort to get and bring help.
What is to follow is an exciting and captivating military adventure in China, in which Simon Fonthill, Alice and Jenkins will encounter a new kind of threat in the form of this Chinese force of Boxers and where they will have to do their utmost to remain alive and leave the country unscathed.
Very much recommended, for this is another wonderful addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "An Exciting China War"!
The year is AD 1900, and China is in total chaos, with the Boxers is their main danger towards missionaries, and that all for the land's ills, and these Boxers are rampaging through the country with foreigners are their favourite persons to kill.
In this chaos the Boxers will get the support of China's Dowager Empress The Dragon Lady, and in this hostile circumstances, Simon Fonthill, his wife Alice, and their friend '352' Jenkins are in search of Alice's uncle, who's a missionary.
When they flee towards the city of Peking, the party gets attacked by these Boxers and the missionary gets killed, and those who survive this deadly encounter will find in Peking no safe haven.
Soon the Siege of Peking, and Fonthill, Jenkins and Chang, the missionary's adopted son volunteer to slip though the enemy lines in a desperate effort to get and bring help.
What is to follow is an exciting and captivating military adventure in China, in which Simon Fonthill, Alice and Jenkins will encounter a new kind of threat in the form of this Chinese force of Boxers and where they will have to do their utmost to remain alive and leave the country unscathed.
Very much recommended, for this is another wonderful addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "An Exciting China War"!
June 19, 2022
This is only a novel but is set in this times, when because of rebels called “Boxers” by the west, led uprisings against foreigners in northern China, destroying property and attacking western missionaries and Chinese Christians.
Self-Strengthening Movement, movement (1861–95) in which the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12) of China introduced Western methods and technology in an attempt to renovate Chinese military, diplomatic, fiscal, and educational policy.
Tonkin campaign. - The campaign officially ended in April 1886, when the expeditionary corps was reduced in size to a division of occupation, but Tonkin was not effectively pacified until 1896.
Following the death of the Xianfeng Emperor, Prince Gong launched the Xinyou Coup in 1861 with the aid of the Empress Dowagers Ci'an and Cixi and seized power from a group of eight regents appointed by the Xianfeng Emperor on his deathbed to assist his young son and successor, the Tongzhi Emperor.
The eight regents, Zaiyuan, Duanhua, Jingshou, Sushun, Muyin, Kuangyuan, Du Han and Jiao Youying were later forced to commit suicide.
Amid power struggles in the imperial court, the Chinese society grew increasingly divided. Frustrated by the political instability and widespread socio-economic unrest, many peasants blamed the onslaught of western incursions for China’s decline. In 1899, rebels called “Boxers” by the west, led uprisings against foreigners in northern China, destroying property and attacking western missionaries and Chinese Christians. By June 1900, as the violence had spread to Beijing where foreign legations were destroyed, the Qing court could no longer turn a blind eye. Issuing a decree ordering all armies to attack the foreigners, Empress Dowager Cixi’s support for the Boxers would unleash the full wrath of the foreign powers far beyond her imagination.
Empress Dowager Cixi died in the Hall of Graceful Bird at the Middle Sea (中海儀鸞殿) of Zhongnanhai, Beijing, on 15 November 1908, after having installed Puyi as the new emperor on 14 November 1908. Her death came only a day after the death of the Guangxu Emperor. Radicals greeted the news with scorn.
After the death of the “Dragon Lady”, a new, troubling chapter of China’s transition into a modern republic would soon begin as the dynasty inched towards its inevitable end following the 1911 Xinhai Revolution.
The 1911 Revolution, or Xinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a decade of agitation, revolts, and uprisings.
The Chinese Revolution was triggered not by the United League itself but by the army... The chain of events immediately leading to the revolution began when an agreement was signed (April 5, 1911) with a four-power group of foreign bankers for the construction of lines on the Hukwang (Huguang) Railway in central China.
Self-Strengthening Movement, movement (1861–95) in which the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12) of China introduced Western methods and technology in an attempt to renovate Chinese military, diplomatic, fiscal, and educational policy.
Tonkin campaign. - The campaign officially ended in April 1886, when the expeditionary corps was reduced in size to a division of occupation, but Tonkin was not effectively pacified until 1896.
Following the death of the Xianfeng Emperor, Prince Gong launched the Xinyou Coup in 1861 with the aid of the Empress Dowagers Ci'an and Cixi and seized power from a group of eight regents appointed by the Xianfeng Emperor on his deathbed to assist his young son and successor, the Tongzhi Emperor.
The eight regents, Zaiyuan, Duanhua, Jingshou, Sushun, Muyin, Kuangyuan, Du Han and Jiao Youying were later forced to commit suicide.
Amid power struggles in the imperial court, the Chinese society grew increasingly divided. Frustrated by the political instability and widespread socio-economic unrest, many peasants blamed the onslaught of western incursions for China’s decline. In 1899, rebels called “Boxers” by the west, led uprisings against foreigners in northern China, destroying property and attacking western missionaries and Chinese Christians. By June 1900, as the violence had spread to Beijing where foreign legations were destroyed, the Qing court could no longer turn a blind eye. Issuing a decree ordering all armies to attack the foreigners, Empress Dowager Cixi’s support for the Boxers would unleash the full wrath of the foreign powers far beyond her imagination.
Empress Dowager Cixi died in the Hall of Graceful Bird at the Middle Sea (中海儀鸞殿) of Zhongnanhai, Beijing, on 15 November 1908, after having installed Puyi as the new emperor on 14 November 1908. Her death came only a day after the death of the Guangxu Emperor. Radicals greeted the news with scorn.
After the death of the “Dragon Lady”, a new, troubling chapter of China’s transition into a modern republic would soon begin as the dynasty inched towards its inevitable end following the 1911 Xinhai Revolution.
The 1911 Revolution, or Xinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a decade of agitation, revolts, and uprisings.
The Chinese Revolution was triggered not by the United League itself but by the army... The chain of events immediately leading to the revolution began when an agreement was signed (April 5, 1911) with a four-power group of foreign bankers for the construction of lines on the Hukwang (Huguang) Railway in central China.
March 27, 2017
Simon Fonthill can't catch a break. On a round-the-world adventure with wife Alice and constant companion 352 Jenkins, the former British officer gets caught up in the Boxer Rebellion in China, and the siege of Peking.
John Wilcox has delivered yet again, another fast-paced romp through a conflict that I knew very little about prior to opening 'The War of the Dragon Lady' - as has been the case with every prior Fonthill novel. These Fonthill adventures are fun to read!
John Wilcox has delivered yet again, another fast-paced romp through a conflict that I knew very little about prior to opening 'The War of the Dragon Lady' - as has been the case with every prior Fonthill novel. These Fonthill adventures are fun to read!
June 27, 2024
This is book #8 in the Simon Fonthill series. John Wilcox does a very good job of placing fictional characters into true historical events. While the book does standalone there are alot of references to events in previous books. Simon has a nose for trouble and a way of overcoming obstacles in his path. This story became a little repetitive and predictable. No a bad series but one you should at the beginning.
May 19, 2015
Back in college (now a long time ago) I wrote a report on the Siege of Peking. Seeing Foothill and 352 make their way into this historical event was fascinating. It brought back memories of that report, and of the Heston movie, 55 Days at Peking.
Wilcox adds a very good perspective on the troubles and at the level of his characters understanding them. He further does wonders by showing not only what happens in Peking (Beijing) and what happens with the relief column.
There are aspects of our hero Foothills life I feel should be more developed, such as his getting too old for this, and perhaps the need to teach the next generation, to gather about men of the empire that can aid him, and aid the empire the way he does. That his English life is really non-existent, and after so many years, wanderlust might, should have faded.
Aside from those issues, the story holds well together, though there is some obvious parts in regards to a Villain and perhaps a subplot a little hard to suspend my disbelief for concerning that villain. But all things considered, seeing Foothill sweep out the Empire under Victoria's last days is worth a read.
Wilcox adds a very good perspective on the troubles and at the level of his characters understanding them. He further does wonders by showing not only what happens in Peking (Beijing) and what happens with the relief column.
There are aspects of our hero Foothills life I feel should be more developed, such as his getting too old for this, and perhaps the need to teach the next generation, to gather about men of the empire that can aid him, and aid the empire the way he does. That his English life is really non-existent, and after so many years, wanderlust might, should have faded.
Aside from those issues, the story holds well together, though there is some obvious parts in regards to a Villain and perhaps a subplot a little hard to suspend my disbelief for concerning that villain. But all things considered, seeing Foothill sweep out the Empire under Victoria's last days is worth a read.
July 4, 2016
There is a large Chinese community in Cardiff which is why there are many Chinese theme books on sale in various places in the city. “The War of the Dragon Lady” is a story based in China during the year 1900 when the country was occupied by many foreign Empires. (Much like the 100 Days at Peking Movie with Carlton Heston). This book is brilliantly linked into events around the famous movie. The Boxers are in revolt across China and all foreigners are in grave danger, The book includes 382 pages of a thrilling story, easy read, easy to follow the story path, if you are a fan of the “100 Days at Peking Movie” you will love this book. Off all the 10 books I have read between Jan 2015 to June 2016 this is my favorite, it is brilliant, history, adventure, danger, thrills all embedded together to produce one great story-line, if you purchase this book you will not be disappointed. The best place for books of this sort are the books stall in Cardiff indoor market and the second hand book shops in the Castle Arcade. Going forward I would love to read more books of the “100 days at Peking theme”. 5 Star book, does not do it justice.
June 1, 2016
Another enjoyable read about Simon Fonthill and 352, this time in China facing down the Boxers. I first discovered John Wilcox reading the Road to Kandihar which was a really good introduction to his main characters, unfortunately the plot lines seem a bit similar but in different locations in these later books. Still why change a successful template and it won't stop me reading about Simon, Alice and 352.
Read
October 18, 2012Wasn't in the mood for a detailed military novel. When I am, I'll start with book one of the series.
October 28, 2015
Same story plot,just different locations
May 5, 2014
Enjoyable book about the Boxer Rebellion. Good action, great characters and good history
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews