This memoir by Edgar A. Porter chronicles his life as a youth in the American South during Jim Crow and the Vietnam War, to his experiences in Asia, most crucially in China as one of the first Americans to be invited by the Chinese government to live there as it opened to the West in the late 1970s. 

The book covers his intellectual and personal evolution as a Calvinist Presbyterian youth, his student days in anti-war and anti-racist movements, and his introduction to and activities with communist organizations supporting the revolutionary ideas of Mao Zedong, culminating in his two years in China. 

The “and Beyond” in the title reflects the span of his life and career into the post-Mao era, including his career as an international educator and administrator in China, Hawaii, Japan, and Austria. His summary of these life experiences makes for thoughtful reflection for those attracted to dogmatic ideologies.