In line with the rest of the series, the current book is a concise rather than an in-depth look at – in this case – the gun boats operating on the Yangtze river between 1900 and 1949.
After a brief introduction into the topic and a time-line all the way from the first Opium War to 1949, the author launches into the gunboat topic, including the purpose, unique operational requirements and challenges, the stationing and the operational areas of some key boats, life on board of a gunboat, some better known actions, the sinking of the Panay, the experience and boat classes of the individual navies operating and finally some data sheets and brief summaries of the operational careers of the British and the US gunboats on the river (a link to an on-line resource provided for the rest). ak
