The China Year Book for 1938 is a volume of special value, as it puts on record an authoritative account of the Sino-Japanese hostilities up to the occupation of Nanking, and, in a preface, gives a summary of some of the more important events that occurred after that historic capture, which brings the volume up to date. With the constantly changing political panorama in this country due to the war, it can be understood thet the editor of the China Year Book had a very difficult task in preparing this volume. Technical difficulties arising out of the nature of the fighting round Shanghai also contributed to making the preparation of the work an almost stupendous business. It is, therefore, a matter of congratulation to the compiler, Mr. H. G. W. Woodhead, that the volume should stand in so little need of excuses for errors and alibis for omissions that could quite justifiably be brought forward. The China Year Book for 1938 is, indeed, a remarkably complete and accurate work. "With the country in a state of flux—many of the most important lines of communication in Japanese hands, the coastline all but closed, industries wrecked, and whole provinces under the control of provisional governments that draw their inspiration from the invader—it is well nigh impossible for anyone to give a complete picture of conditions at the moment. The Year Book, however, pretends to be nothing more than a guide and informant, and it fulfils these functions to admiration. It is a volume which can be described without exaggeration as an essential in any office.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.