The Sand Pebbles
by Richard McKenna
Conflicted crew of US gunboat cruising China's straits in the 1920's risks involvement in Chinese civil war. First published in THE SATURDAY EVENING POST, this was the author's only novel: he died at 51. Some brilliant science fiction stories, often reprinted, preceded the novel. Memorably filmed by Robert Wise with Steve McQueen and Candice Bergen in 1966.