This monograph presents the true story of the gunboats from the U.S. Navy and the navies of many European powers and Japan that patrolled the Yangtze River, protecting missionaries and trade and diplomatic outposts, as well as countering warlords and pirates. Each type of gunboat is described in detail, but even more valuable are the descriptions of life on the gunboats and the exotic political and cultural environment in which they operated.

Richard R. Burgess, Seapower(September 2011)

This is another well written [Osprey] book. It details the early days of the river boat force and carries the reader up until the end of the riverboat force in 1949.

Jim Adams, AeroScale

Provides a fine survey of early gunboats that protected traders and missionaries from the end of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th ... Any China or military history library will find this specific and informative.

The Midwest Book Review (September 2011)