Naval witnesses to the war in China

The foreword's author recalls joining a China river gunboat as a junior officer in 1938 and unexpectedly encountering an undeclared war. He describes attacks on civilians, blockades, and epidemics, including suffering associated with China's scorched-earth policy. Naval personnel observed and reported events while instructions required them to avoid confrontation, even restricting photography aboard their own ships. He argues that repeated Western concessions encouraged Japan to underestimate the foreign powers before December 1941. He also credits Western institutions with contributions to Chinese modernisation while acknowledging that Western privileges may already have run their course. His account combines personal observation with judgements about the collapse of Western authority in China.