Sport and Science on the Sino-mongolian Frontier

Arthur de Carle Sowerby's Sport and Science on the Sino-Mongolian Frontier is a gripping blend of expedition narrative, natural history, and frontier politics, set along the contested edge where China meets Mongolia. Drawing on journeys through North Shensi, the Ordos Desert, Shansi, Kalgan, and Inner Mongolia, Sowerby recounts hunting trips, specimen collecting, geological observations, and close encounters with local life, all against a backdrop of war, migration, and imperial expansion. He frames the Great Wall not as a fixed line, but as a living border shaped by mountains, rivers, the Mongolian Plateau, and centuries of conflict between Chinese settlers and Mongol nomads. The book moves from fertile valleys and loess hills to sand-choked ravines, freezing ridges, and storm-lashed steppe, capturing both the beauty and brutality of travel in remote borderlands. Along the way, Sowerby and his companions gather new species, study birds, mammals, flora, and geology, and endure hunger, flood, hail, and political unrest. His account also reflects on the exploitation of Mongols by Chinese traders and the instability of a region further strained by plague and rail expansion. Adventurous, observant, and richly detailed, this is a vivid portrait of a frontier world in transition. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.