Archival documents and photographs, memoirs, and contemporary writings have been brought together in this rich account of the Peking Legation Quarter, which came into existence in 1861 as a result of the unequal Tianjin Treaty of 1861. Accounts are given of the buildings, and lifestyles of the inhabitants who staffed the foreign legations in the designated area. Accounts of the rise of the Boxer movement, the Boxer Siege and horrific events associated with it and the subsequent reprisals which led to new treaties and rebuilding are all complemented by contemporary photographs. The often-inbred lifestyles of those living in the Quarter are followed through the 20th century until the 1949 proclamation of the Peoples' Republic, when its buildings were gradually transformed, renamed or demolished and the quarter was no more. With glossary, bibliography, sketch maps and index.