A Cold War Turning Point: Nixon and China, 1969-1972

In this enlightening Cold War account, Chris Tudda artfully blends thrilling narrative with deep historical research. It is a fascinating read for so many reasons.Many accounts of the Nixon administration are unable to separate the author’s personal feelings about the president from the actual details of his administration. Tudda clearly did not come into his research to “prove” any assumptions about Nixon. Instead, he objectively navigates the reader through several archives to reconstruct the events surrounding one of most important periods during the Cold War: Sino-American rapprochement.Here are a few details I particularly enjoyed:• Tudda goes into great detail about the U.S. attempt to keep Taiwan in the United Nations. Unfortunately, I have found many authors to gloss over this important event.• He also expertly explores the Nixon administration’s relationship with Pakistan, a critical asset in America’s outreach to China, while simultaneously dealing with the fallout from the 1970 cyclone in East Pakistan, the subsequent movement for autonomy (and ultimatly independence), and the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War.• As an interesting – and important – backdrop to the negotiations, Tudda also accurately explains the intense rivalry between National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Secretary of State William Rogers.I have read a number of academic books on the Nixon administration’s Cold War policies. I find many dry and wordy, with the author metaphorically sucking the life out of the story. A Cold War Turning Point, however, is articulate and to the point, and makes for an interesting read. I would recommend the book to any academic studying this particular period in American foreign policy and to the casual reader looking for a good read. It really was illuminating.