China Crosses the Yalu; The Decision To Enter the Korean War

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1960. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Good/Good. x, [6], 219, [5] pages. Maps. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. DJ is priceclipped and has ink underlining on front flap. Pencil erasure residue on fep. Underlining and comments to text noted. The author was associated with the RAND Corporation. Allen Suess Whiting (born October 27, 1926) is an American political scientist and former government official specializing in the foreign relations of China. Whiting was University of Arizona Regents' Professor of Political Science from 1993 to his retirement, having joined the university in 1982. He graduated from Cornell University in 1948, earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1952. He became a researcher at the RAND Corporation and served in several capacities in the U.S. Department of State, including head of the Far Eastern Division of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He then taught at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1968-1982. Whiting has been a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. Derived from a Kirkus review: Mr. Whiting has written that rare book -- one free from political inference concerning a political act. China's decision is viewed against the background of the problems and complexities of a fledgling Communist government and the book is as close an inside view as is possible to obtain without access to Red Chinese government sources. The decision to enter North Korea by the leaders of the Chinese government marked China as a real force in international relations. It was fraught with serious after effects: close affiliation with Russia; crystallization of the strict Marxist position; a death struggle with the West; and most important, China's role as the image of the Saviour in the East against historical ""foreign domination"". Whiting also handles other aspects, for example, the concept of limited war. This is a capable work, penetrating, and with a feel for the Realpolitik of China's decisions. It is certain to raise many questions among serious students of world Communism.