Murphey earned his A.B. degree magna cum laude in history in 1941 and his M.A. degree in history from Harvard University in 1942. Although not a Quaker, Murphey attended a Friends School in his hometown of Philadelphia. That environment shaped his belief that “killing wouldn't solve anything.” He resolved, however, to assist against the threat of the Axis powers. He enlisted as a conscientious objector and served with the British Friends Ambulance Unit in China from 1942 to 1946. In the ambulance unit, Murphey and an international group of men drove old, charcoal-powered Chevrolet trucks throughout southwest China with medical supplies. Following the war, Murphey received an M.A. degree in international and regional studies in 1948 and his Ph.D. degree in Far Eastern history and geography from Harvard University in 1950, where he studied with John K. Fairbank. Murphey taught Asian studies and geography at the University of Washington from 1952–1964. In 1964, he went to University of Michigan as professor of Asian studies and geography. His title was changed to professor of history in 1982. Professor Murphey wrote or co-authored a dozen books on the history and geography of China and South Asia. He focused on the modern history of urbanization in the region through such works as Shanghai: Key to Modem China. The Outsiders: Westerners in India and China won an award for best book of the year by the University of Michigan Press. His several textbooks on the history of Asia went through many editions; A History of Asia appeared in its 7th edition in 2016.
Memories of wartime China
As a driver for the British Ambulance Corps in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Murphey traveled to Kunming, Chungking, Yen’an, Hanoi, Hong Kong and Shanghai and met Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Zedong. Hong Kong was just an “outpost of colonialism,” Murphey recalled, and nothing like the huge metropolis that it became in post-war history. Murphy told a later interviewer his wartime encounters with Zhou Enlai, who was a “charmer” : When his unit reached Yan’an, the communist wartime capital, their impression of the communists was more favorable than of the Nationalists: Murphy recalled that he came away with a positive impression, but added:
