Frederick O'Neill, an Irish Presbyterian missionary, lived for forty-five years in Faku, a small town in Manchuria, northeast China. From 1897 until his expulsion by the Japanese army in 1942, he witnessed and reported the extraordinary events that convulsed China—the Boxer Rebellion, the Great Manchurian Plague, the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. He also served with the China Labour Corps in France in World War One.

"Engagingly written, with a wonderful way of bringing to life the work of one missionary and the broader history of Manchuria." –Frank Dikötter, Chair Professor of Humanities at The University of Hong Kong

"History is more complex and colourful through the lives of real persons than by the pens of historians. Basically we are all human beings and the distinctions by religion, race, and class could not conceal our passion for others. We might interpret macrohistory in whatever ideologies; the microhistory of individuals does not follow any mega-theory and the individuals' lives present only narratives embedded in a particular conjuncture of time and place. But only through these narratives that we can understand real persons, real lives, the real world and the history they constitute. The case of Frederick O'Neill is one of them." –Dr Thomas Chan, Head of the China Business Centre, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University