Empress Dowager Cixi : the concubine who launched modern China / Jung Chang.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 403-415) and index.

I. The imperial concubine in stormy times (1835-1861) -- Concubine to an emperor (1835-56) -- From the Opium War to the burning of the old Summer Palace (1839-60) -- Emperor Xianfeng dies (1860-61) -- The coup that changed China -- II. Reigning behind her sons' throne (1861-1875) -- First step on the long road to modernity (1861-9) -- Virgin journeys to the west (1861-71) -- Love doomed (1869) -- A vendetta against the west (1869-71) -- Life and death of Emperor Tongzhi (1861-75) -- III. Ruling through an adopted son (1875-1889) -- A three-year-old is made emperor (1875) -- Modernisation accelerates (1875-89) -- Defender of the empire (1875-89) -- IV. Guangxu alienated from Cixi (1875-94) -- The Summer Palace (1886-94) -- In retirement and in leisure (1889-94) -- War with Japan (1894) -- A peace that ruined China (1895) -- The scramble for China (1895-8) -- V. To the front of the stage (1898-1901) -- The reforms of 1898 (1898) -- A plot to kill Cixi (September 1898) -- Desperate to dethrone her adopted son (1898-1900) -- To war against the world powers: with the Boxers (1899-1900) -- Fighting to a bitter end (1900) -- Flight (1900-1) -- Remorse (1900-1) -- VI. The real revolution of modern China (1901-1908) -- Return to Beijing (1901-2) -- Making friends with westerners (1902-7) -- Cixi's revolution (1902-8) -- The vote! (1905-8) -- Coping with insurgents, assassins and the Japanese (1902-8) -- Deaths (1908) -- Epilogue: China after Empress Dowager Cixi.

In biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Empress Dowager Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to change China. Under her the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state: industries, railways, electricity, telegraph, and an army and navy with up-to-date weaponry.

English.