Description

For two and a half years (1937–1939), Captain John Seymour Letcher commanded a company of the U.S. Embassy Marine Guard in Beijing (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.

Good-Bye to Old Peking: The Wartime Letters of U.S. Marine Captain John Seymour Letcher, 1937–1939

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Hardback by John Seymour Letcher , Roger B. Jeans Jr

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Short Description:

For two and a half years (1937–1939), Captain John Seymour Letcher commanded a company of the U.S. Embassy Marine Guard... Read more

    Publisher: Ohio University Press
    Publication Date: 04/01/1998
    ISBN13: 9780821412282, 978-0821412282
    ISBN10: 0821412280

    Number of Pages: 262

    Non Fiction , Biography

    Description

    For two and a half years (1937–1939), Captain John Seymour Letcher commanded a company of the U.S. Embassy Marine Guard in Beijing (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.

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