There has always been a sort of romantic lore surrounding the Yangtze River gunboats. The mind exudes exotic locations and times of danger. Undoubtedly boosted by the move 'Sand Pebbles', and books written on the subject by those who were captains of these boats.

Well, there was some truth in all this, but for the most part, these vessels were little more than ways for European and other powers to project influence over what was often a fragmented state of affairs that made what was known as China during the late 1900s and the first half of the 20th Century. The country was never really united until the communist takeover in 1949. It was fragmented by areas under the control of powerful warlords into which there were settlements occupied by various countries. It was protection of these communities as well as shipping that was the impetus for the stationing of gunboats on the Yangtze.

Many of these boats were ill equipped for their task, but they all were available when needed and had the light draft needed. The Yangtze varied a great deal in both depth and the speed of the current. These boats needed to be able to handle the shallow times as well as the very strong current that was often present when the river ran swift and deep. As you can imagine, aside from the captain and perhaps a few other officers, living conditions were bare and since most of these boats were teeming with Chinese who were paid by the crew to do their jobs for them, they had to be crowded.

In this book, author Angus Konstam looks at the variety of ships that were present during the years of gunboat diplomacy in China. He covers the British and US boats more than those of Japan, Italy, Germany, Portugal and others as these nations were more involved than others in the various incidents and battles that took place between the gunboats and Chinese forces or pirates. The major boat classes and individual boats are covered along with a brief history of each. This is all superbly illustrated by artist Tony Bryan as well as some excellent period photographs of the boats and crews.

Other nationalities are covered, but not to the extent of the US and UK. There are tables at the end of the book that give all the salient specifications of each boat as well as a very brief history. In all, it is one of the better titles in this series in terms of your editor's personal interest and a book that I can quite easily give my highest recommendation.

June 2011

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