The Lymington edition

Written in the early thirties, published in 1935, during the great depression. Set in England it was written during the reign of King George the fifth and before the abdication crises of his successor, Edward the eigth. This is relevant because it portrays the then crown prince as a popular choice as a unifying regent after the collapse of a normal society post 1935. The chief character is one of Wheatleys "gung ho" enlish heroes. and is a good read if you put yourself, not as the main character, but as one of the affected and how one would cope oneself in such a situation. No law and small groups out to survive. Good escapist page turner if you can stomach the class society of the 'tween war years.

He had been sent to Istanbul to check rumours of a planned uprising. But as a spy Destime was an amateur, alone in a city of intrigue and fear, a dark web in whose centre squatted the repulsive form of Kazdim Hari Bekar, formerly a Palace eunuch, now Chief of the Secret Police. A job which admirably suited his own depraved personal tastes.

The tale opens in the South Seas, near an island cloaked in mystery. There, Gregory Sallust enters the service of the lovely lady A-lu-te. Together with the jovial Kâo Hsuan and the earnest Mandarin Tsai-Ping, they set off to find the lost heir to the Imperial Throne of China. Their search takes them to San Francisco's Chinatown, then back across the Pacific and through the heart of China up to the borders of Mongolia. After they have travelled 10,000 miles we read: 'At last they had reached their journey's end. Since they had set out three people had died unexpectedly and horribly; and Gregory had had five narrow escapes from death.' Yet that is only halfway through the story. They have still to beard the man who is said to have carried off the lost Princess, and who lives like a feudal Baron in the great House of Lin.