China 1945
Mao's Revolution and America's Fateful Choice
Richard Bernstein
- A
- riveting
- account
- of
- the
- watershed
- moment
- in
- America’s
- dealings
- with
- China
- that
- forever
- altered
- the
- course
- of
- East-West
- relationsAs
- 1945
- opened,
- America
- was
- on
- surprisingly
- congenial
- terms
- with
- China’s
- Communist
- rebels—their
- soldiers
- treated
- their
- American
- counterparts
- as
- heroes,
- rescuing
- airmen
- shot
- down
- over
- enemy
- territory.
- Chinese
- leaders
- talked
- of
- a
- future
- in
- which
- American
- money
- and
- technology
- would
- help
- lift
- China
- out
- of
- poverty.
- Mao
- Zedong
- himself
- held
- friendly
- meetings
- with
- U.S.
- emissaries,
- vowing
- to
- them
- his
- intention
- of
- establishing
- an
- American-style
- democracy
- in
- China.By
- year’s
- end,
- however,
- cordiality
- had
- been
- replaced
- by
- chilly
- hostility
- and
- distrust.
- Chinese
- Communist
- soldiers
- were
- setting
- ambushes
- for
- American
- marines
- in
- north
- China;
- Communist
- newspapers
- were
- portraying
- the
- United
- States
- as
- an
- implacable
- imperialist
- enemy;
- civil
- war
- in
- China
- was
- erupting.
- The
- pattern
- was
- set
- for
- a
- quarter
- century
- of
- almost
- total
- Sino-American
- mistrust,
- with
- the
- devastating
- wars
- in
- Korea
- and
- Vietnam
- among
- the
- consequences.Richard
- Bernstein
- here
- tells
- the
- incredible
- story
- of
- that
- year’s
- sea
- change,
- brilliantly
- analyzing
- its
- many
- components,
- from
- ferocious
- infighting
- among
- U.S.
- diplomats,
- military
- leaders,
- and
- opinion
- makers
- to
- the
- complex
- relations
- between
- Mao
- and
- his
- patron,
- Stalin.On
- the
- American
- side,
- we
- meet
- experienced
- “China
- hands”
- John
- Paton
- Davies
- and
- John
- Stewart
- Service,
- whose
- efforts
- at
- negotiation
- made
- them
- prey
- to
- accusations
- of
- Communist
- sympathy;
- FDR’s
- special
- ambassador
- Patrick
- J.
- Hurley,
- a
- decorated
- general
- and
- self-proclaimed
- cowboy;
- and
- Time
- journalist,
- Henry
- Luce,
- whose
- editorials
- helped
- turn
- the
- tide
- of
- American
- public
- opinion.
- On
- the
- Chinese
- side,
- Bernstein
- reveals
- the
- ascendant
- Mao
- and
- his
- intractable
- counterpart,
- Nationalist
- leader
- Chiang
- Kai-shek;
- and
- the
- indispensable
- Zhou
- Enlai.A
- tour
- de
- force
- of
- narrative
- history,
- China
- 1945
- examines
- the
- first
- episode
- in
- which
- American
- power
- and
- good
- intentions
- came
- face-to-face
- with
- a
- powerful
- Asian
- revolutionary
- movement,
- and
- challenges
- familiar
- assumptions
- about
- the
- origins
- of
- modern
- Sino-American relations.
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