Letters from China (Abridged, Annotated)

Book excerpt: "When I went to Brazil in 1890, I was always comparing and contrasting that country and her people with my country and my people; and to me, mine were always superior...the attitude of superiority I had taken made it impossible to accumulate anything [of value]. When Sarah Pike Conger and her husband, Ambassador Edwin H. Conger (Civil War Major), left Brazil to take a new post in China, she could not have been more excited. But within months of their arrival, the violent Boxer Rebellion broke out. In letters to family and friends, Sarah Conger details her fascination with China and the Chinese and the desperate anxiety of the 45-day siege of the foreign legations during her husband's tenure. Though death and destruction were part of their early experience in China, the Congers came to love the country. They visited royalty and Mrs. Conger seemed especially impressed with the Dowager Empress, of whom she writes a great deal in this book and with whom she became friends. They also visited Japan during their trips to and from China and she records the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. Long out of print, this fascinating book is available for the first time as an affordable, well-formatted edition for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.