VENTURE INTO DARKNESS. [Some Copies are Signed By The Author]

New York [1955], Longmans.Black cloth spine over red boards, 306p., a very sharp, clean and solid copy, with very clean dust jacket in Mylar protector, 14 x 21 cm.* FIRST EDITION * ** THE AUTHOR & HUSBAND'S SIGNED LONG PRESENTATION COPY ** . *** **** *** . . . THE FASCINATING STORY OF AN AMERICAN BUSINESS MAN . . . STRUGGLING AGAINST COMMUNIST CHINA . . . WRITTEN BY A LONG-TIME OLD CHINA HAND & AMERICAN WOMAN . *** This is a fascinating novel concerning an American businessman who comes to grips in communist China written by his wife and famous author of several books on China. . * In this fascinating work, Hobart forms a picture of conflict, the conflict of the gently reared Chinese, imagination captured by the promises of ideals put forward by Communists, as they break with the old traditions only to find that the sacred right of the individual is sacrificed. . The conflict of the returning foreigners, encountering deep hate and suspicion where they had nurtured friendship and confidence. . The conflict within, those who had regretted a choice made under pressure, in this case, an acceptance of the sacrifice of aspiring, ambitious youth for the security his years demanded. . The man is David Conway, who has come back to make restitution, to rescue the man who had succeeded him in his job and become a prisoner of the Reds. . Aided by a family friend in Hong Kong, David enters China illegally, only to have Mu San, son of his mentor, turn traitor, and betray not only David, the hated American, but his father and the intricate network of the underground. . In the successive adventures --escape, capture, escape again, and a perilous journey with guerillas across China, the kaleidoscopic picture of changing moods of loyalty to the new, nostalgia for the old, resentment and ardent nationalism. . As communists, those going through the process of brain washing, peasants, officials, underground men and women bring forces to play on the solution for David and Mu San. With flashbacks, interesting despite occasional awkwardness of handling, one gets a glimpse of an old way of life and thought. . *** WHO WAS THE AUTHOR Alice Tisdale Hobart [1882-1967]: She was a well-known American woman and author of popular fiction & non-fiction books about life in China. . She was born Alice Nourse in Lockport, New York. Her most famous book, OIL FOR THE LAMPS OF CHINA, which was also made into a film, drew heavily on her experiences as the wife of an American oil executive in China amid the turmoil of the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty in 1912. . Mrs. Hobart has intimate knowledge of China and the relations of the Americans and Europeans who have put down roots deep into China, whether in self-identification or service or industry and of the Chinese with whom they come in contact. . She first traveled to China in 1908 to visit her sister Mary, who taught at a girl's school in Hangchow, and returned two years later to take up a post at the same establishment. . After marrying Earle Tisdale Hobart, a Standard Oil Company executive, in Tientsin in 1914, she traveled to Manchuria and in 1916 published an article on her experiences at the hands of Manchurian bandits in The Atlantic Monthly. . This led to a series of pieces entitled Leaves From a Manchurian Diary and formed the basis for her first book: PIONEERING WHERE THE WORLD IS OLD in 1917. This title was written under her maiden name Alice Nourse. . Her life in Changsha formed the backdrop for her second book, BY THE CITY OF THE LONG SAND, while an assault on Nanking by Nationalist soldiers and her escape over the city wall to the safety of the waiting American gunboats was recounted in WITHIN THE WALLS OF NANKING in 1928. This book started as a piece in Harper's Magazine. Her fictional account of her experiences in China, not surprisingly, focused on the role played by Western businessmen, especially those engaged in importing and selling petroleum products. . * PIDGIN CARGO, set among traders on th.…