1. Historical Monograph History in Three Keys By: Megan Bedford

2. The Writing. Author, Paul A. Cohen writes this book in a unique style. By using historical reconstruction of this major anti-foreign explosion and watershed even in Chinese History. He also uses eye-witness accounts and real participants experiences and testimonies about what happened.

3. The Boxer Uprising The Boxer uprising was an attempt by the members of a Chinese secret society to expel foreigners and foreign influence from China. The Boxers resented the Chinese Christian converts also. Attacks against missionaries and Chinese Christians commenced in and hostilities were widespread mainly in Beijing.

4. Drought The drought of 1900, brought the Boxers and missionaries to seek religious explanation for the crisis. The Boxers took it as the gods being angry by Christian disrespect in China. They believed the drought would end when all foreign religion was eliminated from China. Cohen found this experience as a major dynamic for the uprising.

5. End of the Uprising A force of European and Japanese troops embarked form Tianjin to aid the foreigners in Beijing. The Empress, Dowager ordered that all foreigners be killed (and many were in Beijing, but in some areas of the Qing Empire officials had ignored the order. In 1900 a larger force captured Beijing and stopped the Boxer Uprising.