Humiliatingly defeated in the Sino-Japanese War 1894-95 and the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, Imperial China collapsed into revolution in the early 20th century and a republic was proclaimed in 1912. From the death of the first president in 1916 to the rise of the Nationalist Kuomintang government in 1926, the differing regions of this vast country were ruled by endlessly forming, breaking and re-forming alliances of regional generals who ruled as 'warlords'. <br><br>These warlords acted essentially as local kings and, much like Sengoku-period Japan, a few larger power-blocks emerged, fielding armies hundreds of thousands strong. In the mid- to late 1920s some of these regional warlords supported the rising Chiang Kai-Shek, but one - Yen His-shan - actually managed to retain rule of the Shansi province from 1912 until the final Communist victory of 1949. <br><br>This book studies each great warlord in turn, as well as the organization of their forces which acquired much and very varied weaponry from the west, including the latest French air force bombers. They were also joined by Japanese, White Russian and some Western soldiers of fortune which adds even more color to a fascinating and oft-forgotten period.