Herbert A. GilesBesprekingen

a more or less loose collection of observations on China. Giles appears most irritated by what he takes as the reluctance of Chinese people to profit from empirical evidence over tradition. The chapter on the instructions to the Chinese Coroner is priceless.

This is not a scholarly book and the historical discussion does not go into great detail. This is the kind of introduction to China that a foreigner visiting the British legation of Ningbo (where Giles had been posted) could expect to receive over port and cigars. The conversational tone is however extremely charming and reveals a great love of China and its people. An extremely pleasant book to read.