When Hong Kong fell to the Japanese on Christmas Day 1941 Macao was left as a tiny isolated enclave on the China coast surrounded by Japaneseheld territory. As a Portuguese colony Macao was neutral and John Reeves the British Consul could remain there and continue his work despite being surrounded in all directions by his countrys enemy. His main task was to provide relief to the 9000 or more people who crossed the Pearl River from Hong Kong to take refuge in Macao and who had a claim for support from the British Consul. The core of this book is John Reeves memoir of those extraordinary years and of his tireless efforts to provide food shelter and medical care for the refugees. He coped with these challenges as Macaos own people faced starvation. Despite Macaos neutrality it was thoroughly infiltrated by Japanese agents and marked for assassination he had to have armed guards as he went about his business. He also had to navigate the complexities of multiple intelligence agenciesBritish Portuguese Japanese Chinese Nationalistin a place that was described as the Casablanca of the Far East. Despite Macaos exceptional position during World War II its history during those years has been little studied. Accompanied by substantial introductory and explanatory material John Reeves memoir is an important contribution to our knowledge of that unique place and time.