John paton davies autobiography featuring
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His book is a major new contribution to World War II and early Cold War history."—John Lewis Gaddis, author of George F. Kennan: An American Life
"China Hand is a vital missing link in the terrible story of America savaging itself politically over the Communist conquest of China. Todd S.Purdum is national editor of Vanity Fair. He documented the personal excesses and political foibles of Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek. Loaded in story and analysis, China Hand is a terrific book about a fascinating figure in American history." --- "An often funny, always insightful account of an adventurous and wonderful life.
We are most fortunate to have his posthumous autobiography available at last, in which he explains, in shrewd and sparkling prose, how he did this. Davies ended the war serving in Moscow with George F. Kennan, the architect of America's policy toward the Soviet Union. Davies joined the thousands of others who became the victims of a political maelstrom that engulfed the country and deprived the United States of the wisdom and guidance of an entire generation of East Asian diplomats and scholars.
The son of American missionaries, Davies was born in China at the turn of the twentieth century.He was also the author of Foreign and Other Affairs and Dragon by the Tail: American, British, Japanese, and Russian Encounters with China and One Another. Neither, however, was immune to the virulent anticommunism of the immediate postwar years.
China Hand is the story of a man who captured with wry and judicious insight the times in which he lived, both as observer and as actor.
Author / Editor information
John Paton Davies, Jr.
(1908-99) was a Foreign Service officer in the U.S. Department of State from 1931 to 1954. Its wry style makes for a delightful read, even though the foreordained outcome suffuses the story with regret."—Foreign Affairs
"An often funny, always insightful account of an adventurous and wonderful life.. As a political aide to General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, the wartime commander of the Allied forces in East and South Asia, he traveled widely in the region, meeting with colonial India's Nehru and Gandhi to gauge whether their animosity to British rule would translate into support for Japan. His offense? Henry A. Kissinger
"Davies predicted more accurately than anyone else, prior to the Cold War, what China's course would be during it.Its wry style makes for a delightful read, even though the foreordained outcome suffuses the story with regret." --- "China Hand is low-key but forceful, at times quite deliciously witty. China Hand is a gripping account of that era." --- "An important book about a pivotal time in America, with relevance for the present and future.
As a political aide to General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, the wartime commander of the Allied forces in East and South Asia, he traveled widely in the region, meeting with colonial India's Nehru and Gandhi to gauge whether their animosity to British rule would translate into support for Japan. His life should be an object lesson to everyone."
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Todd S . China Hand is a gripping account of that era."—Dr. His life should be an object lesson to everyone."—Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post . No doubt China Hand will be of particular interest to students of Chinese history from the 1930s to the 50s and of American diplomacy during the same period, but its greatest value is as the personal testament of a man who was the wholly innocent victim of political opportunism yet retained his sense of personal worth and, equally important, his undying loyalty to the country that had served him so poorly.As history and biography, China Hand is first rate."—Dan Rather "Among the State Department's 'China Hands' of the 1930s and 40s, John Paton Davies was one of the most eminent, until our domestic debates destroyed his career. We are most fortunate to have his posthumous autobiography available at last, in which he explains, in shrewd and sparkling prose, how he did this. |