Originally published in 1936, News from Tartary is the story of a journey from Peking through the mysterious province of Sinkiang, to India. Fleming tells the story in his inimitable manner, dismissing the difficulties with irony and describing events and developments with humor and brilliant color, and his account is a classic of travel writing as well as a brilliant description of a vanished time and way of life.

Peter Fleming (1907–1971), the brother of novelist Ian Fleming, wrote for the London Evening Standard, the Spectator, the BBC, and the Times of London. His travels took him to Mexico, Brazil, Russia, China, Japan, Tibet, and Manchuria. He died in a hunting accident in Scotland.