As frequently happens with MMP books, I was delightfully surprised to see this latest title arrive in the mails. Pre-WWI naval wars are something that is rarely covered in the popular media and this was one of which I must sadly say that I knew absolutely nothing. I say sadly as history was my minor in college and I guess I should have known about it!

This was a war against two major powers. On one side were the French at the height of their colonialization period and the other was China, a country that had a huge army and a fairly well equipiped navy. However, in this case, it was generally the French that had the qualitative edge in terms of technical superiority and an edge in training that allowed them to eventually win out.

It is difficult to tell the naval war of this conflict without including the events on land as so much of it was intertwined. This was also a time where though ships may have been steam powered, most of them still had a full complement of rigging and some of them were also wooden hulled. It was also the last combat use of the spar torpedo.

To provide a bit of background, the French were consolidating their power in Indochina and this is where the events began. They had to not only overcome the Vietnamese powers, but also those of China who were moving in from the north. In this part of the undeclared war, most of the naval action took place on rivers in support of French troops. This then moved to the Chinese coast where the French forces went up against southern Chinese naval forces and forts in and around Foochow. The action then moved to Taiwan and events around Keelung and the Pescadores.

The end result was the removal of Chinese influence in Indochina and French domination of that part of the world until their final defeat in 1954.

The author has done a superlative job of telling the story of the events of this war as well as the politics surrounding it and the actions of the major players on both the Chinese and French sides of the conflicts. As you can guess, the Chinese had the edge in manpower, but also suffered the most casualties. Often this manpower was enough to thwart the French, but in the end it was French technical superiority and training that carried them through this war.

In addition to an excellent telling of events, the book is full of period photos of the main men involved as well as their ships. Mostly French ships are in the photos, but there are enough of the Chinese ships to give an idea of what they were like. This also includes many period illustrations of the events as well as some very well done maps so you know what is going on.

It all makes for yet another excellent reference book from the folks at MMP as well as what is really a fascinating look at naval warfare of the late 19th century. It is a book that I have no problem highly recommending to you as I am sure you will enjoy it as much as did I.

August 2012

Review book courtesy of Mushroom Models Publications where you can order your copy. Australian readers can get theirs from Platypus Publications, European readers from Orca, and US readers can get theirs from Casemate Publishing.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.