The China Mission: George Marshall's Unfinished War, 1945-1947

The China Mission: George Marshall's Unfinished War, 1945-1947At the end of World War II, General George Marshall took on what he thought was a final mission this time not to win a war, but to stop one. In China, conflict between Communists and Nationalists threatened to suck in the United States and escalate into revolution. Marshall's charge was to cross the Pacific, broker a peace, and prevent a Communist takeover, all while staving off World War III. At first, the results seemed miraculous. But as they

At the end of World War II, General George Marshall took on what he thought was a final mission--this time not to win a war, but to stop one. In China, conflict between Communists and Nationalists threatened to suck in the United States and escalate into revolution. Marshall's charge was to cross the Pacific, broker a peace, and prevent a Communist takeover, all while staving off World War III. At first, the results seemed miraculous. But as they started to come apart, Marshall was faced with a wrenching choice--one that would alter the course of the Cold War, define the US-China relationship, and spark one of the darkest-ever turns in American political life.

The China Mission offers a gripping, close-up view of the central figures of the time--from Marshall, Mao, and Chiang Kai-shek to Eisenhower, Truman, and MacArthur--as they stood face-to-face and struggled to make history, with consequences and lessons that echo today.