Bernard Llewellyn, educated at the London School of Economics, joined the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) after the outbreak of World War II. Initially serving in England, he set sail for China in November 1941. His mission: to drive medical supplies landed at Rangoon over the treacherous Burma Road into the heart of Free China. Over the next two and a half years, he traveled extensively across the country. When he returned home at the end of 1944 was easily persuaded to return to China with UNRR the following year.

Llewellyn’s book is a vivid, sympathetic account of China during the war and its immediate aftermath—not a study of politics, but a portrait of the land and its people. He journeyed by lorry, raft, junk, and train, spending nights in remote villages, visiting isolated temples, and soaking in the rhythms of daily life in teahouses and Chinese theaters.

His experiences ranged from delousing Chinese troops and staying in leper colonies to witnessing famine along the Yellow River and working with refugees. He traveled from the spiraling ledges of the Burma Road and the mountainous borders of Tibet to the storied alleys of old Peking. With keen observation and a deepening personal connection to the country, Llewellyn offers readers both striking photographs and unforgettable sketches of a nation in the grip of war, yet full of enduring spirit and beauty.

1953, The Oxford University Press, New York, black and white photographs, dust jacket is little chipped at spine, protected with mylar covering, hardcover, very good condition.