Isabella Bird was one of the greatest travelers and travel writers of all time, and this is her last major book, a sympathetic look at inland China and beyond into Tibet at the end of the 19th century. In describing the journey, Isabella provides a rich mix of observations and describes two occasions when she is almost killed by anti-foreign mobs. It many ways, Isabella created the model for travel writing today, and this one of her greatest works.

Isabella Bird was born in Yorkshire in 1831, the daughter of a clergyman. She made many dangerous and extraordinary journeys during her life to places including Hawaii, India, Tibet, Turkey and Morocco. She wrote many travel books, of which The Yangtze Valley And Beyond is one of the best. She died in Edinburgh in October, 1904.