- Hardcover: 436 pages
- Publisher: Walker & Co (30 Jun 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0802713610
- ISBN-13: 978-0802713612
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.1 x 3.9 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
32,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #36 in Books > History > Countries & Regions > Asia > China
- #58 in Books > History > Countries & Regions > Asia > East Asia
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Product Description
Synopsis
Portrays the dramatic human experience of the Boxer Rebellion from both a Western and Chinese perspective, drawing on diaries, memoirs, and letters of those who lived through this pivotal time in the history of China.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Somebody needed to write a book about this hugely significant event - and Preston has done a pretty good job on the whole.
The problem is, that relying as she does mainly on sources from the UK and America, she presents an almost exclusively Anglo- Saxon view of an event which equally affected the Russians, Japanese, Germans and French when all were beseiged in China.
Therefore we are repeatedly presented with a seige where the British and Americans are often presented as the only honourable participants (via the records of British officers, for example).
Later on, when the coalition savagely massacres the Chinese in revenge, the same problem arises (though here Preston is less inclined to let the memoirs speak for themselves).
At a time in history where the Anglo Saxon world seems to regard itself as both braver and better than just about everyone else (and their lives as much more valuable), this episode in history has a particular relevance. However it would have been good to have learned more about the conditions that sparked off the rebellion.
The problem is, that relying as she does mainly on sources from the UK and America, she presents an almost exclusively Anglo- Saxon view of an event which equally affected the Russians, Japanese, Germans and French when all were beseiged in China.
Therefore we are repeatedly presented with a seige where the British and Americans are often presented as the only honourable participants (via the records of British officers, for example).
Later on, when the coalition savagely massacres the Chinese in revenge, the same problem arises (though here Preston is less inclined to let the memoirs speak for themselves).
At a time in history where the Anglo Saxon world seems to regard itself as both braver and better than just about everyone else (and their lives as much more valuable), this episode in history has a particular relevance. However it would have been good to have learned more about the conditions that sparked off the rebellion.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
60 reviews
28 of 31 people found the following review helpful
More Like "How Westerners Coped During the Boxer Rebellion"
16 July 2005
Format:Paperback
Whether you enjoy this book or not will depend almost entirely on what your expectations for the work are. If you are looking for a history of how the western missions in Beijing held out and were eventually relieved during the summer of 1900, this is the work for you. Diana Preston has mined a significant amount of the available literature on the days leading up to Boxer rebellion as well as many of the diaries and journals from inside the missions during the rebellion itself. She seamlessly weaves these disperate sources into a coherent and easily readable narrative of survival in extreme conditions.
However, 'Survival in Extreme Conditions' is not the title of this book, and at a fundamental level it does a poor job of explaining the causes of the Boxer Rebellion and the inner workings of the Imperial Court during the crisis. In Preston's book the main figures are acted upon instead of being actors, with the who, what, where, when, and why of the Chinese side left basically uncovered. This is largely a result of a lack of Chinese sources on the rebellion, though even the available sources are barely used in this narrative.
This is a shame, because The Boxer Rebellion starts with one of the best Prologues I have ever read in a popular history work. Preston excellently guides the reader through the main points in global history in 1900 as well as showing how those were impacting China. This context, which is so often missing from other works of the same genre, is useful but sadly unexploited for the remainder of the book, which focuses not on the Emperess and how she was making decisions but on the drama unfolding at the foreign consulates in Beijing.
This is an extremely readable work and Preston is clearly a good author. However, the Boxer rebellion was one of the most spectacular events of anti-Western violence of the last 125 years, and a better discussion of the causes and effects would be particularly useful in the modern context. If you are a non-China expert like myself who wants to know more about the rebellion itself, you will be disappointed by this book.
However, 'Survival in Extreme Conditions' is not the title of this book, and at a fundamental level it does a poor job of explaining the causes of the Boxer Rebellion and the inner workings of the Imperial Court during the crisis. In Preston's book the main figures are acted upon instead of being actors, with the who, what, where, when, and why of the Chinese side left basically uncovered. This is largely a result of a lack of Chinese sources on the rebellion, though even the available sources are barely used in this narrative.
This is a shame, because The Boxer Rebellion starts with one of the best Prologues I have ever read in a popular history work. Preston excellently guides the reader through the main points in global history in 1900 as well as showing how those were impacting China. This context, which is so often missing from other works of the same genre, is useful but sadly unexploited for the remainder of the book, which focuses not on the Emperess and how she was making decisions but on the drama unfolding at the foreign consulates in Beijing.
This is an extremely readable work and Preston is clearly a good author. However, the Boxer rebellion was one of the most spectacular events of anti-Western violence of the last 125 years, and a better discussion of the causes and effects would be particularly useful in the modern context. If you are a non-China expert like myself who wants to know more about the rebellion itself, you will be disappointed by this book.
40 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Great book, a must for a history buff
26 Jun 2000
Format:Hardcover
While not much is written about the Boxer Rebellion, Diana Preston, does a great job. I could not put this down, it reads like a novel. Preston vividly re counts the events leading up to the rebellion, as well as the conflict itself. The discription of the charaters in the same detailed light (the sexual habits of the players is also mentioned, but not over done)places a face on the conflict. It also descibes the awkward union of the world powers that sent troops to rescue the legations in Peking. What I noted the most is that in some aspects China has changed very little. The maps and pictures help with the story. I liked this book very much, and being an avid history reader I could not tell if this was a novel or a history book. If you are looking for a great read that covers this period (in which so few books are written) buy Preston's book.
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful
banner year for history
21 Jun 2000
Format:Hardcover
What a fabulous year for lovers of well-written prose! Jacques Barzun's magnificent Dawn to Decadence. Diana Muir's surprising and wonderful Bullough's Pond and now Preston gives us the Boxer rebellion. If William Manchester would bring out the new volume of the Churchill biography I think that I could die a happy man. To get back on topic, do not read this book unless, of course, you enjoy good narrative history, well-researched and presented in a prose style that could put most novelists now living to shame. Speaking of which, when did we cease to recognize that well written history is a high literary art? This is both, good history and good writng - and a ripping good yarn.
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