The Origins of the Boxer Uprising

The Origins of the Boxer Uprising The Origins of the Boxer Uprising was published in 1987 by University of California Press. Since the 1960s, the Qing archives in both Beijing and Taiwan have been opened to scholars. Additional sources such as Jiao-wu jiao-an dang (Archives on Missionary Cases) and documents from Shandong have been made public. The author, Joseph W. Esherick, was intent on using the new resources available to disprove previous notions about the Boxer …

…of the fact that this is a history book, it can be boring at times. While there were a few examples of events that took place, they were more like police reports rather than stories. The author is a good narrator gives detailed accounts of historic event but he’s a poor story teller. If this book were to be read out loud one would be falling asleep by the end of the first chapter.