Chaos in Asia

New York: Ives Washburn, Inc.. Very Good+ in Very Good dj. (c.1939). First Edition. Hardcover. [a nice solid copy, light shelfwear to bottom edge and at top of spine, one-time owner's name scrawled at top of ffep; jacket has a couple of tiny chips at top of front panel, a few nicks elsewhere along top and bottom edges, very shallow paper loss at spine ends]. "Written out of deep understanding and with the authority of over 13 years first-hand knowledge of the situation in East Asia, this book by the famous New York Times correspondent is hugely informing and definitely exciting. [The author] knows personally and intimately the leaders of both countries in the Chinese-Japanese conflict and here presents his personal -- and factual -- account of their objectives, their methods and the conditions which now obtain in China as a result of their strategies." Abend (1884-1955) reportedly worked briefly in the film industry (as a title-writer and scenario reader, although I've been unable to uncover any actual credits for him), followed by stints on various newspapers; he went to China in 1926 as the NYT chief correspondent in Peking, and ended up spending the next fifteen years there, despite an effort by the Chinese government to deport him in 1929 when they took exception to some of his columns. He covered the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, and essentially was on the ground for the Sino-Japanese War for the rest of the decade. In 1937 he was wounded during a Japanese artillery bombardment, and later beaten by Japanese military police; he repaid the favor with his reporting on the "Rape of Nanking," which exposed the extent of Japanese atrocities in that city. After returning to the U.S. in 1941, he embarked on a career as a freelance writer and lecturer; during the 1940s he turned out approximately a book a year, and also wrote extensively for The Saturday Evening Post, Look, Reader's Digest, and other such popular magazines. .