A Cambridge graduate and a gliding champion, John Simpson was happy teaching maths at a school in Dorset. But with the advent of war in 1939, his pacifist attitudes were soon to be challenged.

Deciding not to kill other people, he inevitably had to face a Tribunal. The situation was resolved by joining the Friends Ambulance Unit where he received some basic medical training and experience in an East London hospital.

After further training in vehicle maintenance, he was sent to the bandit country of Western China, then nominally under the control of Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang. From his base at Kutsing, he helped to keep trucks running and supplies moving to Chungking and beyond, right up to the Gobi desert.

The personal letters he sent to Jean, his future wife, provide a unique insight into life among the Chinese of that time. Throughout all the difficulties, he came to love the country and its people, and welcomed the revolution. In later life, he returned there as a distinguished scientific guest with Jean. The years have not changed his attitude to China. Nor have his Quaker convictions about war changed, recent world events rather reinforcing them.

Number of Pages: 115 pages  

The Pages Contains:  34 b/w photos, 2 maps

Cover Material:  Softbound  

Book Size: 240 x 160 mm