Linda Banks & Robert Banks 
Through the Valley of the Shadow 
Australian Women in War-Torn China

This compelling collection tells five stories of young Australian women who served in times of armed conflict in early twentieth-century China. These courageous missionaries lived in the midst of pre-Boxer uprisings, the Republican revolution, clashes between regional warlords, Japanese occupation during World War II, and civil war between Nationalists and Communists. Suffering deprivation and hardship with the Chinese people, they were shot at and bombed, endured capture and imprisonment, and risked their lives to save others. Some were even killed. Working in villages, hospitals, schools, universities, orphanages, and refugee centers, these women helped shape the emergence of modern China. In partnership with local people they helped raise the status of women and develop educational, medical, and welfare institutions that exist to this day. Based on thorough first-hand research, visits to various sites in China, and including a number of historic photos, this book is written for anyone interested in the lives of people who made a difference to the world around them.

O autorze

Robert Banks is a professor at the Centre for the History of Christian Thought and Experience at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Prior to 1999, he served as the executive director of the De Pree Leadership Center and as Homer L. Goddard Professor of the Ministry of the Laity at Fuller Theological Seminary. His books include _Paul’s Idea of Community_ and _Redeeming the Routines_.