Besieged by the Boxers by one of the besieged
For those interested in the siege of the legations at Peking in 1900, this remarkable book has many advantages. Its text is taken from letters written and despatched as the events unfolded and together they offer a substantial account that reveals the progress of the crisis to its inevitable conflagration. The atmosphere of unease within the city is palpable to the reader up to the point the writer introduces us to ‘the Society of the Harmonious Fist’-the fearsome Boxers. Weale then describes the siege in some detail, virtually on a day by day basis, with all its privations and with graphic accounts of fierce combat with the attacking Chinese forces. Finally, with the arrival of the relief column and foreign troops, the author tells of the sack of the city which is an aspect of the Siege of the Peking legations often absent from other accounts. Available in softcover and hardcover with dust jacket.