Defeated in the Sino-Japanese War 1894-95 and the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, Imperial China collapsed into revolution 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'. These warlords acted essentially as local kings and much like Sengoku-period Japan, fewer, larger power-blocks emerged, fielding armies hundreds of thousands strong. In the mid to late 1920s some of these regional warlords.

This book reveals each great warlord 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 colour to a fascinating and oft-forgotten period.

Philip Jowett was born in Leeds in 1961, and has been interested in military history for as long as he can remember. His first Osprey book was the ground-breaking MAA 306, Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49; he has since published a three-part sequence on The Italian Army 1940-45 (MAA 340, 349 & 353).

Stephen Walsh studied Art at the North East Wales Institute and has worked as a professional illustrator since 1988. Since then he has illustrated a variety of books and games including Settlers of Catan. His projects for Osprey include such diverse subjects as the battle of Otterburn, the Chinese army from 1937 to 1949 and the US Home Front in World War II. He is married with two children and lives in Macclesfield.