THE MOUNTAIN ROAD

by Theodore H. White ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 1958

An absorbing reading experience, this gripping story of a tumultuous, maddening, harrowing week when the Chinese, young and old, paupers and scholars, sick and well, blocked the roads of escape as the Japanese pushed forward, set upon one last victory in seizing the motor supply route which would sever one part of China from the area controlled from Chungking. Philip Baldwin was a desk man, a staff major, an engineer whose knowledge of construction made him valuable in the role of commanding a unit set on demolition. Thrust upon him is an unwelcome part; he must learn to manipulate men as well as machines, and that against opposition, suspicion, the odds of danger in a nebulous cause. Then there were the Chinese, as dangerous to his unit as were the approaching Japanese. Delays were their meat; they achieved them by blanketing decisions in courtesy. Baldwin was no politician- but his interpreter, Collins, was -- and Baldwin learned the hard way. And in the end, Collins paid the ultimate price for the weak spot of sentiment and humanity in his armor. The reader liven through these days and nights; sees the ghastly horde of terrified refugees; knows that each mile has its penalty, that bridges must go, roads be destroyed, towns evacuated and wiped out, and finally a vast dump of military supplies, poured into China by the Americans, the British, the French, must go up in a supreme sacrifice. All- to block the Japanese. Baldwin makes mistakes and pays for them in self-torture. He loses the confidence of the two Chinese who are thrust upon him- they find that the gulf between Chinese and Americans is too deep. The heady wine of power taken hold -- and remorac is no solution. But the goal is won, and Baldwin has his men with him at the last. There's cloquent revelation here of the dilemma of China, that dilemma that made Communism almost inevitable as an answer to lack of discipline. But this is not only a poignant portrait of a people; it is enthralling reading, given authority by the weight of the man who wrote Thunder Out of China and Fire in the Ashe. As we go to press comes the news that again his book is a Book of the Month selection -- for June.

Pub Date: May 7, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1958

Categories: FICTION