Late Imperial Chinese Armies 1520–1840 (Men-at-Arms, 307)

Presently we have an academic journal specialized in Chinese military history "Journal of Chinese Military History", we have the fabulous Andrew Graff books, Van den Ven, Whiting, among several others. In 1997 we had none of the above. At least in Portugal there were only a few generalist histories of China and even in English there were almost no books specific on Chinese military history and no precise illustrations at all of Chinese soldiers (exception based in the famous terracotta army from a much earlier period). When we evaluate this series of 5 books from Chris peers we must bear the above mentioned information into account.Having said that it's obvious that the author uses relatively few sources and if he wrote this book today he certainly would have made different choices, used different terminology, complemented certain chapters, probably changed some opinions. But even so, this is a good introduction to the fall of the Ming and the ascension of the Manchu, not forgetting the short lived Shun. It gives a summary of the events and a short description of the armies of the period. The author also shows the strengths and weaknesses of each army, stating the results of (sometimes the lack of) specific policies of the most representative emperors. Other subjects that you will find in this booklet are the relations with foreigners, artillery and fortifications.You will also get a summary of seven of the most representative clashes: Ying-Chou 1517; P'yong-Yang 1593; Sarhu 1619; Chen-Chiang 1645; The two sieges of Albazin 1685-86; maymyo 1767; Yarkand 1830.The internal art are mostly from XVI and XVII century military manuals; there are interesting photographs of artifacts, a few basic maps, and very good color plates from Christa Kook (Ming troops 16th cent;Ch'i Chi-Kuang's Army 1560; Manchu Cavalry 1625; The siege of Kweilin 1647; Cavalry 18th cent; Tibetans 17th-18th cent; The Ch'ien Lung emperor and bodyguards; Infantry 18th-19th cent).This book and the four others written by this author related to the Chinese army through history, are compiled in a hardcover titled "Soldiers of the Dragon: Chinese Armies 1500 BC-AD 1840 (General Military)".

This book is the fourth book of a four-part series of books on the armies of Imperial China. This particular book covers the three-hundred year period of time from 1520 C.E. (Common Era) through 1840 C.E. of Imperial China. Like most books published by the Osprey Publishing Company, this book contains a series of maps which are relevant to the period of time under discussion. The book also includes a chronology of events of the time. The chronology and the maps contained in this book makes the book an excellent reference book to have close at hand while reading other books on the topic.

This is a fairly expensive book for 48 pages but it does a credible job of describing the era in Imperial China between 1520 and 1840. There are eight different paintings of various chinese troops in different armor and many black and white pictures throughout the book showing weapons and statues of the period.Various essays in the book also describe the armies of the time, some of the weapons and the setting to each era. In all it does a credible overview of the era and is a very good primer for readers interested in the era.

These series of booklets are primers to niche areas in history. Thus, the text is basic and acts as a supporting cast to the illustrations. The illustrations are dreary, with an overt painterly look. Low on details which is a pity as these series of books are also targetted at reenactors and figure modellers.

As a fan of the series and an avid collector, I found that the majority of the artworks featured in this volume are very lacking. The armors are historically inaccurate and the anatomy of the figures are subpar, they are all colored with a lacklaster and painful orange. Whoever drew these works should get fired immediately.So far the series had excellent artworks for samurais, Mongols, Kublai Khan Tibet and the Altai nomads, but surprisingly not China.

A volume that fills a gap in the knowledge of eighteenth century armies

Osprey books are the go-to place for war- gamers,military modellers and arm-chair generals and i have enjoyed many of their titles in the past.However with this book although the text and colour pics are as great as i would expect but the maps are frankly appalling.I think a little more effort could have gone into them to say the least.The same goes for the black and white photos which are a blur.

Excellent book, exactly as described. The book covers in usual Osprey format the roles, strengths and deployments of the various Imperial Chinese Armies during the period 1520-1840.

As always from osprey a good overview of the period a good read

Libro interessante anche perché affronta la storia di un esercito poco conosciuto all'estero e poco studiato. Lo raccomando a tutti.