The most significant period in the history of modern missions was in the five years following World War II, when the door closed on nearly one quarter of the world's population as China, the largest "mission field" in the world, came under a Communist government. For over a century it had been possible, if often dangerous, for western missionaries to enter the country and preach where they would. By the end of 1950 all that had changed. Most Protestant missionary societies had withdrawn already, and now the largest, the China Inland Mission, decided that open Christian witness in China was impossible under Communism. The mission must withdraw. Had the decision come too late? The full story of the exodus, unrevealed at the time, is told now. - Back cover.