Reviewed summary
The Boxers: China’s Forgotten Revolution
Joseph W. Esherick digs into the Boxer Uprising as a gritty, local response to ecological disaster and social collapse—not just a nationalist tantrum or imperial backlash. This book reveals how desperate northern Chinese peasants, martial arts clubs, and religious sects tangled with a faltering Qing dynasty to create a chaotic, misunderstood revolution. It’s history from the ground up, messy and human.
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