Book excerpt: Confronted by Chinese nationalism and the rise of the revolutionary movement in South China, Britain commenced a retreat motivated by political, commercial, and economic considerations and aimed at the protection of British interests without reliance on gunboat diplomacy. This book analyzes British policy-making, diplomatic, military, and commercial, against the background of civil strife and political instability in China, and, in the wider sphere, of greater international cooperation. In a closely argued study based on expansive use of British and Chinese sources, Fung presents a balanced picture of this important chapter in the history of Sino-British relations.