The world was rumbling with discontent in 1934. Fascism was on the march and Japan was making a military land grab against a weakened Chinese empire. Nobody with any common sense went wandering around South East Asia alone unless they were looking for trouble. Which is exactly what young Leonard Clark (1908 - 1957), one of the greatest adventure travel writers of the early 20th century, thrived on. Though only twenty-six when the story opens, he's already armed with a keen eye, a sense of humour, no regrets and his trusty Colt 45 pistol. Clark delights in telling his readers how he outsmarts warlords, avoids executioners, gambles with renegades and hangs out with an up and coming Communist leader named Mao Tse Tung. In a world with lax passport control, no airlines, and few rules, the young man from San Francisco floats effortlessly from one adventure to the next.