Britain, China, and the Antimissionary Riots, 1891-1900 was first published in 1966.During the last decade of the nineteenth century, the Christian missionary movement in China was disrupted by an increasing number of antiforeign riots. Britain led the other European powers in an unsuccessful efforts to quell these outbreaks. By 1900, these riots had merged with a massive grass-roots rebellion, the Boxer rising, which culminated in the siege of the legations in Peking. The problem of the missionaries created a dilemma in British diplomacy, since England had entered China primarily for purposes of trade, and support of the embattled missionaries led to a series of international incidents which disrupted the commercial relationship and tended to involve Britain in China's internal affairs.Professor Wehrle provides a detailed account of Anglo-Chinese relations and the missionary movement during this period. Much of the material is based on newly opened records of the British Foreign Office. Other important sources for the study were the papers of the third Marquess of Salisbury and the archives of the missionary groups involved, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Church Missionary Society, and the London Missionary Society.

Anyone with a special interest in the background of China's relations with the West will find this an absorbing and illuminating piece of history. It will be of particular interest also to those concerned with church history.