Ella Maillart’s Peking bestseller, 1937

I’ve blogged about the Swiss author, photographer and adventurer Ella Maillart before (here with her partner Annamarie Schwarzenbach, and here the fine Albatross edition of her Peking to Kashgar book Forbidden Journey). She made the overland trip with Peter Fleming (the whole story is in my book Through the Looking Glass) and he published his own book of the adventure, News from Tartary. Here, shortly after publication in England, is an advert for the book from The Spectator in 1937. Calling her ‘Peter Fleming’s companion’ obviously raised awareness of Maillart in England and they were very much equals on the trip and remained friends afterwards….