by Piotr Olender
Petersfield, Eng.: MMP Books / Philadelphia: Casemate, 2012. 132.
Illus., maps, diagr., appends., notes, biblio., index. $39.00 paper. ISBN: 836142153X
The
Sino-French Naval War deals with a long-forgotten
colonial conflict with far reaching consequences
Although
hardly known in the English-speaking world, American readers in particular will
find many of the places named in this book familiar from a later war. Olender, author of several books on naval
warfare in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, does a good job with a
complex subject. He opens with a discussion
of the origins of French colonialism in the area now encompassed by Vietnam, Laos,
and Cambodia, and the resultant clash with China. Olender’s review of the military resources of
the two sides is excellent, and particularly useful; the war occurred as armies
and navies were sorting out the possibilities of innovative technologies, and
some of the “transitional” weapons and warships are likely to be unfamiliar to
even fairly seasoned students of military history. His account of the actual maritime conflict
between France and China is certainly the best recent one in English, and
reminds us that this war was on a surprisingly large scale. In what was one of the largest naval wars of
the nineteenth century, the French defeated in the Chinese in several fleet
actions, blockaded the Chinese coast, and captured the Pescadores Islands, off
Taiwan. Operations on land are also well
covered, and Olender’s survey of the Chinese Army is particularly useful, as
they are usually often neglected in accounts of conflicts with Western
powers.
An
even-handed account, Sino-French Naval
War makes an excellent short introduction to this largely forgotten war.
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