Customer Reviews

A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China, an Investigative History

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the most absorbing, well-researched books on contemporary U.S.-China relations that I've read in years. I was surprised as well as disappointed by the book's revelation of our nation's intent to agree to a China-America pact yet use every ruse to circumvent its true intent, particularly in regard to the Taiwan agreement.

To me, one of the most interesting parts was that of Gen. Alex M. Haig, Jrs, participation while Reagan's Secretary of State, and that because of the subterfuge, it eventually led Haig to confront President Reagan with "play the game or I resign." Haig stuck to his word and resigned.

I appreciated Tyler's professionalism, his thorough research and his palatable journalistic style of presentation.

For those whose circles don't include the halls of power in Washington and Beijing, Patrick Tyler's "A Great Wall" offers a valuable historical perspective and background information. As Tyler makes clear in his concluding chapter, understanding the complexities of the U.S.-Chinese relationship since the Communist victory in 1949 will be of critical importance to the next U.S. administration, which will have to deal with such key issues as Taiwan. "A Great Wall" makes an excellent companion piece to Nicholas Kristof's and Sheryl WuDunn's "China Wakes" (Vintage Books, 1994). I recommend this work to those with a casual interest in China and to those who are just beginning their quest for knowledge about the Sino-U.S. relationship.

Though there are many great books about China, I was not aware of many great books about U.S. policy towards the PRC. I was excited to read that one of my favorite author's, Robert D. Kaplan, had written a very postive review of this book. He was right on the money. Reading like a novel, A Great Wall, gives you the behind the scenes stories of Nixon, Kissinger, Cater, Ford, Reagan, Bush and China. I highly recommend this book.

As someone who follows China closely, this book is a refreshing change from the one-sided anti-China sentiment we have been experiencing. Mr. Tyler did a superb job recounting his experience and observation without being ideologically biased. His story about traveling in a Russian jet with ordinary China travelers shortly after Deng's death is memorable. I hope people in Washington and indeed in the U.S. take this story, as well as numerous others in this book, seriously. History may not always be on the Chinese side as Clinton stated in Beijing, but history would be a lot less kind to us if we fail to engage China and support Chinese reformers (NOT the dissidents)-- it is in the American's national interests and the interests of ordinary Chinese people that we do so. As a native Chinese who have lived both in China and U.S., I cannot think of a better book on China to recommend for open-minded and interested readers. For readers who did not have the opportunity to be in China witnessing history, this book would be the second best option, period. I commend Mr. Tyler for his journalistic integrity, which is such a rarity nowadays. He has made timely contribution which I hope would not go unnoticed.

I heard Patrick Tyler participate in New York at a luncheon discussion and was so impressed that I went out and got his book. Not being a "China hand," I expected to have difficulty with the subject matter. But Tyler writes in a lucid, entertaining style, and his book is filled with revealing anecdotes and cogent analysis. There's meaty historical data as well, and a lot of contemporaneous material not publicly revealed until now. I'm awed by Tyler's research, and by his ability to synthesize the sheer volume and expanse of the subject matter.

I had mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Tyler's attmepts to punch up the book by including details he could not possibly know about(see his blow by blow description of the fighting on the Sino/Soviet as seen from the perspective of a hapless Soviet lieutenant) recalls some of the worst excesses of Bob Woodward. On the other hand, Tyler does a great job of showing how internal forces within the various administrations combined to form China policy. The descriptions of Kissinger Vs Rojers and Vance Vs Berezinski are well worth reading. On the whole, however, I feel that James Mann's About Face is a better book, and covers much of the same material. If you have time read both, if not go with the Mann book.

While much of the material discussed in "A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China" is questionable in nature, one comment from the book's jacket lining puts everything into focus: "A Great Wall is an epic that reads more like a novel than an investigative history." And this is precisely the main structural defect that causes "A Great Wall" to crumble under its own weight. "A Great Wall" is the kind of instant journalism that inside-the-beltway types love, reveling in extended descriptions of questionable motives, personality clashes, bureaucratic warfare, and Washington-specific gossip and name-dropping. Instead of digging deep into the history of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China, Patrick Tyler opted for ad nauseam descriptions of Henry Kissinger's megalomania, paranoia, and penchant for excessive secrecy. Tyler also finds it efficacious to extrapolate on Zbigniew Brzezinski's attempts to direct U.S.-China policy by himself, embarrass Cyrus Vance and Richard Holbrooke, hoodwink President Carter, and desire to elevate his public persona on par with Henry Kissinger's. Tyler's choice in emphasizing personalities as the chief determinant of U.S. policy toward China, relayed to the reader in a "fly on the wall" manner, seriously detracts from Tyler's overall scholarship and ability to tell an informative and convincing story. Tyler's "A Great Wall" has also faced the embarrassment of being publically denounced by President Carter as "grossly biased" and by Dr. Brzezinski as a "complete fabrication." This reader expected a better effort from someone who should have a firmer grip of the subject matter, having served Beijing Bureau Chief for The New York Times. A reader looking for an informative overview of the normalization of U.S.-China relations is better off with James Mann's "About Face." "A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China" is a big disappointment.

For the casual China reader, this book is a fun read, with lots of entertaining antecdotes. It gives a good basic background on Sino-American relations. For those looking for a more thorough treatment (but still a relatively entertaining read), or for those who have a more in-depth knowledge of China, I recommend "America's Response to China" by Cohen.

Some interesting nuggets here and there of new information that Tyler has turned up, but otherwise most of the info here can be found elsewhere. Tyler falls into the trap that most NYT journalists fall into: that is they exaggerate in order to increase drama and tension in their narrative. This unfortunately fudges facts and leads readers who are not well-versed in the subject with possibly mistaken impressions. There are better books out there on China to read like "About Face" by Mann so why waste time with this one?

I view this book with mixed feeling. I felt the book is good originally, that's the only possible channel I could learn from, until one day, I heard the interview of the author from radio PBS, that gives me a feeling he is qualified as hollywood movie conductor. his account of his experience full of drama exagration but self-contradicting. The way he describes XinJiang border escape but his editor-in-chief could call him to finish a draft, about his explaination of why Beijing municipal government does not allow resident to raise big dog (I'm sure he know the offcial saying but not willing to tell, to ruin American's expected answer). In one sentence, his choice of words is tricky enough to misguide naive Americans who never take enough time to understand other countries but quick at reaching conclusions.

This in turn, raises my suspicion on the way history is unfold in the book.