The Silent Traveller In Oxford

In 1940 the Chinese writer Chiang Yee arrived in Oxford as a refugee from the London Blitz, his lodgings having been bombed. He came to Oxford, he writes, in rather a turmoil. What was meant to be a brief escape turned into a five-year stay, an affectionate relationship with the city, and the fifth in the hugely successful Silent Traveller series. Looking at the city and its historic university with the curiosity and openness of a complete stranger, Chiang Yee paints a revealing picture of Oxford's particular atmosphere, its rituals and traditions. He mixes with undergraduates and dons, visits pubs and restaurants, witnesses Union debates and punting on the river, all with a gentle astonishment and perceptive eye for detail. Chiang Yee explores the colleges and other student haunts, but also the city and its surrounds, from Port Meadow to Headington and Hinksey. First published in 1944, The Silent Traveller in Oxford evokes a wartime city of shortages and blackouts. It also captures an earlier age of university life, when students drank sherry and scaled college walls to escape prowling Bulldogs. Throughout Chiang Yee draws parallels between Oxford and his native China, compari

Chiang Yee's account of London, first published in 1938, is original in more ways than one. Not only one of the first widely available books written by a Chinese author in English, it also reverses the conventions of travel writing. For here the "exotic" subject matter is none other than London and its people, quizzically observed as an alien culture by a foreign writer.

Chiang Yee was, in his own words, 'dazzled' by the Scottish capital. From the Meadows to Princes Street, from Arthur's Seat to Calton Hill and Edinburgh Castle, he paints an unforgettable picture of the city and its people in the 1940s. Writing with wry humour, he broadens our perspective of familiar sights and customs, introduces us to Confucian philosophy and Chinese poetry, corrects cultural misconceptions, and encourages us to appreciate life.

From Connie Willis, winner of multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, comes a comedic romp through an unpredictable world of mystery, love, and time travel . . . Ned Henry is badly in need of a rest. He’s been shuttling between the 21st century and the 1940s searching for a Victorian atrocity called the bishop's bird stump. It’s part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in a Nazi air raid over a hundred years earlier. But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings back something from the past. Now Ned must jump back to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right—not only to save the project but to prevent altering history itself.

Exiled from China in 1933 and separated from his wife and children, Chiang Yee spent over 40 years away from his homeland. Adopting the name The Silent Traveller, he threw himself into his passions—writing, painting and poetry—and produced some of the most evocative, unique and enduring travel books ever written. Chiang Yee was, in his own words, 'dazzled' by the Scottish capital. From the Meadows to Princes Street, from Arthur's Seat to Calton Hill and Edinburgh Castle, he paints an unforgettable picture of Edinburgh and its people in the 1940s. Writing with wry humor, he broadens our perspective of familiar sights and customs, introduces us to Confucian philosophy and Chinese poetry, corrects cultural misconceptions and encourages us to appreciate life. Illustrated throughout with Chiang Yee's exquisite paintings, sketches and Chinese calligraphy, this edition—the first for over 50 years—has a new foreword by Da Zheng, Associate Professor of English at Suffolk University, Massachusetts.

Each year thirty-two seniors at American universities are awarded Rhodes Scholarships, which entitle them to spend two or three years studying at the University of Oxford. The program, founded by the British colonialist and entrepreneur Cecil Rhodes and established in 1903, has become the world's most famous academic scholarship and has brought thousands of young Americans to study in England. Many of these later became national leaders in government, law, education, literature, and other fields. Among them were the politicians J. William Fulbright, Bill Bradley, and Bill Clinton; the public policy analysts Robert Reich and George Stephanopoulos; the writer Robert Penn Warren; the entertainer Kris Kristofferson; and the Supreme Court Justices Byron White and David Souter. Based on extensive research in published and unpublished documents and on hundreds of interviews, this book traces the history of the program and the stories of many individuals. In addition it addresses a host of questions such as: how important was the Oxford experience for the individual scholars? To what extent has the program created an old-boy (-girl since 1976) network that propels its members to success? How many Rhodes Scholars have cracked under the strain and failed to live up to expectations? How have the Americans coped with life in Oxford and what have they thought of Britain in general? Beyond the history of the program and the individuals involved, this book also offers a valuable examination of the American-British cultural encounter.