Any westerner who has traveled to China lately will tell you that Chinese people just might be the friendliest folks on Earth. But was a time, in the summer of 1900, when “foreign devils” in China were fair game for public beheadings. Diana Preston recounts that bloody Boxer Rebellion, when a small but deadly group of Chinese peasants, tired of the abuses, exploitation and Opium trade committed by European merchants, succeeded in executing tens of thousands of westerners as payback.

So few believers today are aware of what shook Christendom in the year 1900. It was a shocking uprising in China led by a religious-spiritist cult called the “Boxers.”

This book details the disheartening, graphic, and apalling attempt at the extermination of “foreigners” from China, focusing on the events of the siege of the diplomatic section of the city of Peking for three months while the western world powers uneasily twiddled their fingers.

In particular, it’s an insightful book as to why the Christian church in China has exploded, but has had to do so under the radar screen and by staying “underground.”

Few know that up to 40,000 Chinese Christians and foreign missionaries were savagely slaughtered at the turn of the century, including women and children.

It’s a riveting, compelling read. While the author does not help you make any connections to the Christian mission of today and the impact that events 100 years ago have had, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to peel back the layers of history to see the tragedy and yet blessing of the persecution.

I’d highly recommend it!