Has any knowledgeable historian here read http://www.amazon.com/Empress-Dowager-Cixi-Concubine-Launched/dp/0307271609 yet? The book allegedly paints Cixi as a consistent reformer throughout her life based on a new synthesis of sources but that is such a sensationally revisionist view of her life that I'm inclined to just dismiss the book out of hand. On the other hand I'm willing to give it a chance if a historian knowledgeable of the sources believes it to be credible. Is she not on record as opposing the various phases of self strengthening and the hundred days reforms? What could new sources possibly reveal to enable a complete reappraisal of her life?
It's well-written. It's also a hagiography, with particular interest in making Cixi into a feminist figure. Go in expecting for everything to be painted in the best light possible for her and it's a good counterweight to the rather overwhelming criticism you see elsewhere, but it's very partisan scholarship.
Did you read her Mao book? It's essentially the same project, in reverse.