Good-bye to old Peking : the wartime letters of U.S. Marine Captain John Seymour Letcher, 1937-1939 / edited by Roger B. Jeans & Katie Letcher Lyle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Letcher, John Seymour, 1903-

Contributor:

Jeans, Roger B.

Lyle, Katie Letcher, 1938-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Letcher, John Seymour, 1903---Correspondence.

Letcher, John Seymour.

Letcher, John Seymour, 1903-.

World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--China--Beijing.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.

Marines.

United States.

United States. Marine Corps--Biography.

United States. Marine Corps.

Beijing (China)--History.

Beijing (China).

Marines--United States--Correspondence.

Genre:

Personal narratives -- American.

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Personal narratives.

Physical Description:

xx, 242 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Athens : Ohio University Press, [1998]

Summary:

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.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-228) and index.

ISBN:

0821412280

OCLC:

37966479