Boxers & Bluejackets

A riveting account of the Royal Naval Brigade in Action

Most accounts of the Boxer rebellion in China during 1900 inevitably focus upon the siege of the diplomatic legations in Peking and their subsequent relief by a coalition of international military expeditionary forces. While this book, of course, concerns this campaign, it is specifically a personal account written by a British midshipman of his own experiences as part of the Royal Naval Brigade engaged in the fighting in and around Tientsin. This aspect of Dix's book forms the majority of the text, with the exception of passages concerning events outside his view which were written based upon anecdotal reports provided by other officers. This Leonaur edition was previously published under the title 'The World's Navies in the Boxer Rebellion, China 1900', which might lead the reader to imagine that Dix's book offered something of broader scope. In fact, this is an account of close encounters, which not only covers allied fleet actions against Chinese craft, forts and artillery, but also offers detailed insights into the sharp end of Naval Brigade action when the Bluejackets left their ships to serve as infantry ashore-this includes descriptions of assaults of defensive positions under fire and of street fighting. This highly readable book is thoroughly recommended to all students of the subject.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.