Overview
Examining Britain’s imperial outposts in 1920s East Asia, this book explores the changes and challenges affecting the Royal Navy’s third largest fleet, the China Station, as its crews fought to hold back the changing tides of fortune. Bridging the gap between high level naval strategy and everyday imperial culture, Heaslip highlights the importance of the China Station to the British imperial system, foreign policy and East Asian geopolitics, while also revealing the lived experiences of these imperial outposts. Following their immersion into a new world and the challenges they encountered along the way, it considers how its naval officers were perceived by the Chinese populations of the ports they visited, how the two communities interacted and what this meant at a time of ‘peace’. Against the changing nature of Britain’s informal empire in the 1920s, Gunboats, Empire and the China Station highlights the complex nature of naval operations in-between major conflicts, and calls into question how peaceful this peacetime truly was.
Full Product Details
Author: Matthew Heaslip (University of Portsmouth, UK.)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Weight: 0.621kg
ISBN: 9781350176188
ISBN 10: 1350176184
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 01 October 2020
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
The depth of Heaslip’s research is evident throughout the text and includes full endnotes for each chapter. ... Gunboats, Empire and the China Station will be a particularly valuable resource to those undertaking research on the development of British maritime strategy in the 20th century, the evolving naval balance in East Asia in the 1920s, and ... China’s relations with the major powers during what was a tumultuous period in Chinese history. Although the book is written principally for an academic audience, it will be accessible to the interested lay reader. Heaslip writes in an engaging and informative manner. * The Naval Review * This is an excellent book and one of the most important academic contributions to the understanding of the tactical, operational and strategic significance of the Royal Navy in the Far East for decades. The story links historical evidence and events to current day RN operations, showing with great clarity and authoritative research that these “new” missions for the RN are indeed just things they have done before. * Greg Kennedy, Professor of Strategic Foreign Policy, King’s College London, UK * This impressive book makes an important contribution to British naval history. Heaslip’s rich and detailed study shows that the interwar period was far from peaceful in East Asia, where the Royal Navy’s China Station was continuously engaged in anti-piracy operations, “showing the flag”, and “gunboat diplomacy”. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the British sea power. * Christopher Bell, Professor of History, Dalhousie University, Canada * Matthew Heaslip’s Gunboats, Empire and the China Station transforms our understanding of the Royal Navy in the 1920s. Rather than a sleepy backwater, the China Station was at the cutting edge of the Royal Navy’s adaptation to the challenges of policing a volatile imperial frontier in a tumultuous decade. Heaslip’s engaging study of command, operations and technological innovation is essential reading for historians of the Royal Navy, the British Empire and the international politics of East Asia in the era of imperial retreat. * Joe Maiolo, Professor of International History, King’s College London, UK *
This is an excellent book and one of the most important academic contributions to the understanding of the tactical, operational and strategic significance of the Royal Navy in the Far East for decades. The story links historical evidence and events to current day RN operations, showing with great clarity and authoritative research that these new missions for the RN are indeed just things they have done before. * Greg Kennedy, Professor of Strategic Foreign Policy, King's College London, UK * This impressive book makes an important contribution to British naval history. Heaslip's rich and detailed study shows that the interwar period was far from peaceful in East Asia, where the Royal Navy's China Station was continuously engaged in anti-piracy operations, showing the flag , and gunboat diplomacy . This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the British sea power. * Christopher Bell, Professor of History, Dalhousie University, Canada * Matthew Heaslip's Gunboats, Empire and the China Station transforms our understanding of the Royal Navy in the 1920s. Rather than a sleepy backwater, the China Station was at the cutting edge of the Royal Navy's adaptation to the challenges of policing a volatile imperial frontier in a tumultuous decade. Heaslip's engaging study of command, operations and technological innovation is essential reading for historians of the Royal Navy, the British Empire and the international politics of East Asia in the era of imperial retreat. * Joe Maiolo, Professor of International History, King's College London, UK *
Author Information
Matthew Heaslip is Lecturer in Naval History at the University of Portsmouth, UK.
