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

by John Seymour Letcher, Roger B. Jeans (Contributor), Katie Letcher Lyle (Contributor)

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.

262 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1998

Reviews

[Dan McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good 'On the ground' book of Peking during the late 1930s. Though not a good introduction to the area, and it's contemporary events such as the Sino-Japaneese War that was occurring at that time. The author spends most of his letters alternating between describing Peking much like a tourist book would, and discussing hunting trips out into the country. It probably would have been more tedious if it had gone on longer than it did, but it is a short read.