The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia

"The United States have handled Chiang very badly. They have let him get away with blackmail." The above quote, taken down by John Service in an interview with Mao in 1944, opens one chapter in The China Mirage and neatly encapsulates much in this book. This eye-opening indictment shocked and angered many people in Washington when Service reported it (and it destroyed Service's career at the State Department. It is only part of the story of the problems and failures in U.S. policy in Asia, most especially in China.