The book is a true story of a Los Angeles-born UCLA graduate's eyewitness account of Japan's invasional march into China prior to WWII. As a young doctor, the author decided to dedicate his life to help rebuild China under the revolutionary dreams of Mao Zidong. He did not realize that his Yankee independence would keep him from believing the dogma embraced by the masses. The next twenty six years of Chung's life were those of peaks and valleys including imprisonment under the Red Guard movement and assignment to a rehabilitation commune where he began a Barefoot Doctor program. Dr. Chung rose to prominence in the public health field in China and was a member of the Secretariat of the World Health Organization in Geneva. It was there that he planned his escape and returned to America.