Boxer Rebellion Books?

[SJWi]

Good morning. My little gaming group are thinking of using Sharp Practice for Boxer Rebellion.  I have the old Osprey dating from 1979 which has a surprising amount of detail, plus Diana Preston's narrative history "The Boxer Rebellion". I see Caliver sell a uniform book but at £18.50 for 60 pages I'm uncertain about buying it without a firm recommendation.  I guess other info can be gleaned from other Ospreys which  I have, but I was wondering if anyone out there has any recommendations of currently in-print books?

Thanks. 

[traveller]

I found the Osprey Campaign no 85 book on Peking 1900 quite useful. For wargaming purposes I guess you will find most of what you need online though. In this forum alone you have 17 pages of entries 

I also found this 2 part documentary interesting:




Good luck with your project!

[SJWi]

Thanks. Reviews of the Osprey Peking book are quite good albeit they say the plates are the weak part, which is disappointing but not disastrous. I've found details of many of the non-Chinese troops in other Ospreys such as the one on US troops in China and French Overseas Troops. My missing part actually seems to be the British!   

[EnclavedMicrostate]

From what I've heard, Preston's book doesn't hold up well in retrospect, though I've never read it myself (I do have a copy lying around somewhere). As for what I have read, David Silbey's The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in China is a good read if you want a sense of the sheer amount of squabbling between the various Allied powers – I'm sure I'm misquoting, but one contemporary remarked something along the lines that 'it was nothing short of a miracle that the International Expedition did not become an International War!'

On the background to the war, there's a rather interesting book by Lanxin Xiang called The Origins of the Boxer War, but it's decidedly imperfect and probably mostly of academic rather than hobbyist interest.

[SJWi]

Thanks for the tip about Silbey. I might well pick it up as its quite cheap on Amazon. As you imply reviews about Preston are "mixed" to say the least.   

[FifteensAway]

I've actually read the Preston book and found it worthwhile.  Like most books, it will leave you wanting more but it is a decent starting point.

Fun conflict to explore - and also frustrating.  Seems like every map of the legations for the siege in Peking is different in its layout.  I'd say gather the best information you can and just wing the rest.  Someday I hope to get started on my largish collection in 15 mm, might even be ordering some stuff from OldGlory 15s since they have their Xmas sale on (Chinese Imperials, Regulars, and old artillery - though I could certainly live without them).  Main reason for order is for some casualty figures for a different conflict unrelated but colonial.

[SJWi]

Fifteensaway, this isn't going to be a "major" project for me involving lots of research. We just want to buy some troops and get them on the table albeit in a historical setting. Osprey are having a Black Friday sale so I might just buy their book "Peking 1900" and take matters from there.   

[italwars]

I would suggest you, for a simple but comprehsive wargame approach, the "Skirmish Campaigns" book on Admiral Seymour Expedition..plenty of ready made, well detailed  scenarios, including maps and  scaled down TOEs for TSTAF but easily adaptable to other wargame rules.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/132669/colonial-campaigns-boxer-rebellion-admiral-seymour

[sjwalker51]

The Osprey “Peking 1900” is a good primer and the Seymour Expedition scenario book is great for a sideshow project - but beware of mission creep!

[SJWi]

Thanks, I've found that two of my mates already have the Osprey "Peking 1900" book. The "Skirmish Campaign" book looks interesting but not too sure how easy it is to track down this side of the Pond.   

[sjwalker51]

In the U.K., I got my copy from Caliver Books