Good-Bye To Old Peking: The Wartime Letters Of U.S. Marine Captain John Seymour Letcher, 1937-1939 - Hardcover

John Seymour Letcher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0821412280 ISBN 13: 9780821412282

Publisher: Ohio University Press, 1998

Synopsis

For two and a half years (1937-1939), Captain John Seymour Letcher commanded a company of the U.S. Embassy Marine Guard in Peking. During that time, he wrote a series of letters to his parents in Virginia describing the life of a Westerner in the former imperial city. During that same time, China was invaded by Japan.

Captain Letcher describes the flavor of life in pre-Communist China — the food, servants, cold Peking winters and torrid summers, hunting, and excursions to the major tourist sites.

But his letters also tell of the Japanese slaughter of Chinese troops in the opening days of the Sino-Japanese War. He wrote about life in a city under Japanese occupation and the stirring story of the Chinese guerrillas rebounding from devastating defeat.

These letters and accompanying introduction, preface, and notes, draw attention to the Western experience in a place and time largely overlooked by military historians and modern China specialists.

About this title

About the Author:

Roger B Jeans is Elizabeth Lewis Otey Professor of Chinese and Japanese History at Washington and Lee University.

Lyle has taught at Southern Seminary College, Hollins University, Washington and Lee University, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College.

Katie Letcher Lyle's articles on wild food have appeared in Americana, Country Journal, and Blue Ridge Country. She is an award-winning cook and the author of eleven books, most recently The Wild Berry Book. She lives in Virginia

About this edition

• Publisher: Ohio University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0821412280
• ISBN 13: 9780821412282
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 262
• Editor: Roger B. Jeans, Katie Letcher Lyle