Boxing with Shadows is a beautifully crafted account of the two and half years Brian Johnson spent living and travelling in the People's Republic of China. He recreates his encounters with contemporary China and the Chinese with perceptiveness, subtlety and powers of evocation. At the same time he reveals the growing sense of loneliness and vulnerability he experienced, and his frustration at the mutual bafflement of his social exchanges with people of such a differing culture and language. Boxing with Shadows is unique in its treatment of ethnic minority groups in China, and in giving a perspective on Chinese politics and society after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.