The Siege of Tsingtau: The German-Japanese War 1914

The depth of research is remarkable, with maps, illustrations and recent photographs of Tsingtau localities apropos the siege. It is an absorbing story of the politics leading to Japan taking the clever opportunity to side with the Allies in 1914. The story is further enhanced with vignettes of the escape of sole German aircraft and its aviator to neutral China, Japan's use of early aircraft carriers at Tsingtau, and the part played by the Royal Navy and token British Army battalions, whose cooperation with Japanese land forces was at times uneasy. About the only item overlooked was Germany's legacy in endowing Tsingtau with today's foremost brand of Chinese beer.

Although only a few chapters of this book are dedicated exclusively to the actual siege of Tsingtau, the account of the siege is quite thorough and gripping. Equally interesting is the process in which the author takes a seemingly obscure battle in a comparatively unimportant theater of the war, and brings it to life with a vivid description of the geopolitical situation in Asia at the outbreak of the war. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in the First World War, imperialism, geopolitics or the rise of Japan.

Good book covers much more than the Japanese campaign. Very detailed look at German colonial expansion in the Asia Pacific area and then the operations across the Pacific in the early months of World War 1.

I can't fault the book for accuracy, but there are one or two issues with continuity, skipping ahead, but on the whole, a worthwhile read.

A very interesting book on a little known area of WW1.

Liked it very much.

used for personal education on this topic

New book

If you're after a book that deals with the siege of Tsingtau in detail this is not it. The book gives an overview of the politics and campaigns in the Pacific theatre leading up to, during, and after the Great War, but the fighting around Tsingtau is covered in a couple of chapters, with only one chapter dedicated to the siege itself. After the capitulation of Tsingtau the Japanese made their infamous "Twenty-one Demands" on China. Even though regional politics makes up a large percentage of this book, for some reason the author decides to practically ignore the "Twenty-one Demands" and simply mentions them by name without discussing them. This is odd as they are essential to the story of Tsingtau during the war. The author then merely states that Tsingtau was returned to the Chinese in 1922 without talking about the events surrounding this. Overall the book feels a little confused as if the author wasn't sure in which direction to take it. However, his style of writing is good, though he has a strange habit of referring to artillery as "tubes", and the maps are useful. However, if you want a book specifically about the siege of Tsingtau there are better ones out there, "A Clash of Empires" by John Dixon being my favourite.

Gives a balanced account of Japan's role in WW1, and is particularly interesting in the light it shows on the later Japanese erosion of China between the wars.

This is an informative and interesting account of an event in the First World War which has previously only received token coverage, at least in English. I have read widely about WW1 so it is always good to find a book where I can find out something new

Arrived so quickly, excellent text and fully illustrated

An interesting WWI book.

La prise de la Tsingtao allemande par le Japon n'est pas seulement l'occasion de considérations sur l'ordre militaire car ce livre traite aussi des relations politiques entre le Japon et les Alliés, Grande Bretagne, les dominions blancs, les Etats Unis. La problématique est simple ; pendant que les Alliés sont occupés en Europe, comment le Japon , allié traditionnel de la Grande Bretagne, peut il améliorer sa position en Asie et dans le Pacifique. On voit très vite apparaïire dans cette bonne étude une problématique qui se crispera d'avantage la guerre finie et qui annonce la II ème Guerre Mondiale.