In 1866, six Frenchmen set out on a dangerous mission to seek a trade
route up the Mekong. During the two years that followed, they would
journey through more than four thousand miles of unmapped territory,
from the tropical heat of the swamps of Vietnam and Cambodia to the
bitter cold of the mountain ranges of southwestern China. Their historic
expedition is the dramatic subject of River Road to China by
world-renowned Southeast Asia expert Milton Osborne. Selected by The New
York Times as one of the best books of 1975 when it was originally
published, this edition has been updated to include a new postscript by
the author and more than thirty full-color illustrations by the
expedition's artist.