The China Mirage

From the bestselling author of Flags of our Fathers, Flyboys, and The Imperial Cruise, a riveting, revisionist history of US-China relations from the 19th century to the dawn of World War II. In each of his books, James Bradley has exposed the hidden truths behind the history of America's engagement in Asia. In Flags of our Fathers he revealed the painful legacy of Iwo Jima; in Flyboys he told the unknown story of a group of lost American pilots in the Pacific; and in The Imperial Cruise he laid bare the hidden origins of the Spanish-American War. THE CHINA MIRAGE is his most ambitious book yet, a vast history of American-Chinese relations from its missionary origins to the eve of WWII. Sure to be controversial in its dark portraits of those whom conventional history has acclaimed, potent in its critique of the missionary instinct, and brilliant in its exploration of the power of myth and mirage to convince men and women and nations that destiny is on their side, this is James Bradley's most intrepid work yet. And at a moment when relations between China and America are Topic #1, the book--the vigorous discussion it will spawn--could not be better timed.