[Mann] has written a cogent and authoritative study. He shows how the exigencies of the Cold War shaped an unlikely partnership–”cozy, secretive, elite-based”–that couldn’t withstand the pressure of American public opinion after Tiananmen. Every president starting with Nixon made diplomatic concessions to the Chinese government that weren’t really necessary, he argues.
— The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, Carroll Bogert
“Revealing and lively–eminently readable, often provocative.”
The Wilson Quarterly
“The best book ever written by an American reporter about the strange relation between China and America.”
— Ross Terrill, author of Mao, China in Our Time and Madame Mao
“Mann takes us through the dizzying diplomacy and strategic U-turns that have characterized our formal relationship.”
— The Wall Street Journal