Red Carpet To China

Red Carpet to China (1958) by Michael Croft — The Travel Book Club Edition

Ever wondered what it was like to be ushered behind the bamboo curtain in the 1950s, not with a whisper but with a bit of pomp and a red carpet? Michael Croft did — and he wrote it all down. Red Carpet to China is a curious, time-stamped dispatch from a traveller granted rare access to Mao’s China when most of the West was still peering through the keyhole.

This 1958 Travel Book Club edition comes with Cold War intrigue, cautious optimism, and plenty of British understatement. Expect theatre, propaganda, guarded smiles, and a nation in flux — all seen through Croft’s sharp, observant eye.

This copy is charmingly aged and might smell faintly of history (or your nan’s attic). Pages are all there. Dust jacket? You’re lucky if it has one. But for those who collect Cold War oddities or enjoy travel writing from when "exotic" meant "just out of reach" — this is a tidy little find.

Sold with usual grumbles and no refunds, from Crappy Old Books — proudly flogging the mildly foxed and gloriously obsolete since last week.

Hardback with dust jacket all in good condition.

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