Portrays the dramatic human experience of the Boxer Rebellion from both a Western and Chinese perspective, drawing on diaries, memoirs, and letters of those that lived through this pivotal time in the history of China. Reprint.

"Originally published in somewhat different form as, Besieged in Peking, by Constable and Company, Ltd. in 1999"--T.p. verso. "First published, in somewhat different form, as Besieged in Peking in Great Britain in 1999 by Constable and Company, Ltd. This edition published in the United States of America in 2000 by Walker Publishing Company, Inc."--T.p. verso.

Poison in the well: China on the eve of the boxer rebellion -- Death and destruction to the foreigner! 20 June-21 July 1990 -- War and watermelons: 21 July-14 August 1900 -- Murder, rape, and exile: Scenes from the boxer Summer -- Another country? China in the wake of the boxer rebellion -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- Notes and sources -- Bibliography -- Art credits -- Index.