Why China Gave the U.S. the Cold Shoulder in 1945

At the start of 1945, America was on congenial terms with China’s Communist rebels. By year’s end that cordiality had been replaced by hostility and distrust. Richard Bernstein, foreign correspondent and former Beijing bureau chief for Time, tells why that year turned the tide and looks at the history of relations between China and America since then. His book China 1945: Mao's Revolution and America's Fateful Choice, tells the story of the sea change that occurred in 1945, and looks at infighting among U.S. diplomats, military leaders, and opinion makers as well as the complex relations between Mao and his patron, Stalin.

China 1945 by Richard Bernstein

(Knopf/Courtesy of the publisher)