The China Card - Hardcover

Ehrlichman, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0671507168 ISBN 13: 9780671507169

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1986

Synopsis

Built around the premise that the Communist Chinese might have planted a mole in Richard Nixon's staff before he was elected president, this novel traces the career of Nixon staffer Matthew Thompson

About this title

From Library Journal:

Just two decades ago, U.S.-China relations seemed hostile and closed. As this novel opens, a skilled diplomat, reclaimed from a pig farm by Chou En-lai, recruits young American Matt Thompson secretly to promote the idea of normalized relations in the course of his work in Nixon's 1968 campaign (and later on Kissinger's staff). On the eve of success, Chou and Kissinger turn against their envoys, determined that history show only their own roles in rapprochement. A secret journal, a con artist, and a love affair with Chou's interpreter are elements in a tricky deal that keeps the historical silence. Ehrlichman certainly convinces us that Nixon's overtures to China could have been engineered in just this way, and his sly and acute portraits of Kissinger, Nixon, and Haig are an unexpected bonus. Altogether, an engrossing adventure story of a go-between who treads the fine line between being a spy and being a dupe. Barbara Conaty, Medical Coll. of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0671507168
• ISBN 13: 9780671507169
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 523