as natural as they were strong. Her rapidly growing popula-
tion required living space and her flourishing trade and indus-
try needed raw materials. I had always admired Japan and
her diligent, intelligent, and patriotic people whose love of
liberty and loyalty to the Emperor became world-famous
when the Russian advance into Manchuria threatened Nip-
pon's position in East Asia and in the Pacific. It had long
been realized that the problem would have to be solved in
one way or another. Unfortunately the hopes that this might
be achieved by amicable agreements between the two great
peoples of East Asia were disappointed, and now the people
of China have already endured three years of inexpressible
suffering without the attackers having made any very great
progress.

The series of about forty volumes that is to contain the
results of the scientific work of my fellow workers and my-
self in Central Asia and Tibet during the years 1927-1935,
twelve volumes of which have so far been published, has oc-
cupied most of my time since my return home in 1935. But
I have carefully followed the course of the Sino-Japanese
war, and was so captivated by the Marshal's great qualities
as a statesman, strategist, and patriot that I could not refrain
from writing a book on him and his historical achievements.

This book was practically ready for print when the revolu-
tionizing events between August 21 and September 3, 1939,
occurred in close succession and filled my spare moments with
studies and thoughts of an entirely different kind. When
Soviet Russia on November 30, 1939, made the unjustified
attack on the peace-loving Finnish people, the hot winds of
war came closer and closer to the boundaries and coasts of my
own country, and the Swedish people gathered in greater
determination than ever around Finland and the defense of
our own glorious country, which has never been conquered
by a foreign power.

When these events took place, my book on Chiang Kai-

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