A good, comprehensive take on the diplomatic back-and-forth of Nixon's trip to China. The focus on his brief meeting with Mao is, somewhat contrary to the title, not the whole focus here. It is only one episode in the larger event. But since it made the punchiest title, I guess that's how they chose to package this.

It could more accurately be called a detailed look at the relations between the US and PRC at a particular and fascinating point in time, culminating with a week-long diplomatic visit during which a lot of tensions were present and some ultimately resolved.

I'm adding Margaret MacMillan to my list of favorite authors of history. Quite simply, she did a masterful job weaving together a complex story using the structure of Nixon's historic week long visit to China. It does not hurt that the narrator was pretty spectacular too.
MacMillan walked a delicate line as she weaved back and forth between narration of the specific events of that particular week and several background biographies of the principal characters, American and Chinese, and of the countries themselves. (Not entire biographies obviously, but biographies tailored to the theme of the book.
I have to admit though that this book requires careful attention, more than I gave it as I listened. At times the audio became a bit like background noise and I missed transitions from past to "present" or vice versa which became a bit confusing. This confusion also increased a bit as the book drew to a conclusion and the time gap between past and "present" narrowed.
That being said, this book more than peaked my interest in a whole variety of topics, such as the extremely perplexing one of how Richard Nixon was elected to the presidency, twice. :)
I definitely recommend this book.

Ending this book with a quotation from Star Trek really rubbed me the wrong way.

A solid and unflashy retelling of a well-known event, written by a scholar but with an eye towards a general appeal. Well footnoted, but not for a specialist. MacMillan has a very good sense of the telling detail, like the story of the dog purchased to humanize Nixon, who wouldn't go near him unless bribed copiously with dog biscuits. But the book suffers a bit from a back-and-forth chronology that makes it difficult to follow the week in question; she knows the dates by heart, clearly, but I didn't.

The book also suffers needlessly from some sloppy editing; we are introduced to Mao's Brooklyn-born Chinese interpreter 'Nancy' Tang Wensheng more than once, and a couple of other anecdotes repeat as well. Clearly the result of chapters being worked on separately over a period of time, and no one reading the thing from beginning to end. Irritating.

One of the best history books Ive ever read. THIS is history as it was experienced. A perfect mixing of backstory alongside the chronology of the two American giants Kissinger and Nixon as they opened contact with Communist China. Totally worth the read, made me wonderfully familiar with a large gap in my historical knowledge. This was an age where the nuances and quirks of diplomacy meant global change in the balance of the chessboard that was the Cold War.

Summery report on the book

NIXON MEETS MAO THE WEEK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

In General, with President Nixon visit to mainland China, along with his staff, there was some pros, but much more cons with this visit. Especially with what was the end result, with the aftermath.

Much was to some suspicions Mao-Tse-Tong, his side of the negotiations. Most of the book, at first was more about history, of much of the Chinese officials, and the Americans. But most of all, the real Issue is Taiwan. The overall concern Nixon and Kissinger had was Taiwan. As a result, Taiwan took the back seat, and not only that, but pretty much lost a lot it's allied status , like losing it's first negotiation, seat in the United Nations. Therefore being replaced by mainland China. This definitely angered Pat Buchanan, Nixon's speak writer, saying “ This was a sell-out.” So I myself, don't think tis was to any advantage not only to Taiwan, but also to much of our allies in the Asian theater.

The Chines knew one thing, that was for sure, and that was the U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, but but this time in 1972, the unpopularity of the war has grown an all time high. Also the mainland Chinese knew that President Nixon decision to pull out was eminent.

From what I have read, that Mao, was a fair honest man, about how he sees the American public officials. When he said, the right wing always does what they say they will, will, but the left wing says one thing and does another. Now that I can go along witch is definitely more true in 2016, than ever.

However knowingly the communists and the socialist believe in gender equality, they do as far as displaying anything in regards to the cultural revolution, in public, but in private MAO would not have his wife present at meetings.

But the mainland Chines, have a bold commitment, that Taiwan is part of China, But the other side says different. Since Taiwan lost it's negotiation table in the U.N., I have lost respect for the United Nations, and all the other wrong full, doing they did for the last past 46 years. The U.N. has grown to more and more arrogant as time went on. They want more and more power over the entire planet.

Just like the movie “ left Behind” indicates, how the U. N. operates. I felt strongly, that Nixon and Kissinger, should of thought at least 5 times as much, before saying or doing anything, that will sell-out Taiwan. And tat was what happen as a net result.

And several years later, what else was the net result?
Saigon fell, on 04/30/1975, to the communists. South Vietnam, as a result is part of North Vietnam, a communist country, mainland China has power over Taiwan, and now the U.S. deficit is about $185 trillion. Now it is not the Chinese fault. It is the U.S. fault, with leftist that is running the show. And Donald Trump made himself Crystal clear.

Some good came out knowingly, that they are at odds with the Soviet Union. Both Mao, and Chou has concerns, about President Nixon's trip to the Soviet Union. Interesting I found hard to believe is that with the war mainland China has with Soviets, the Soviet encourage India to attack mainland China.

But I found it to be absurd, that the author of this book, would say mainland China is one of the most civilized countries in the world. No communist country has ever been that way, when they persecute, and incarcerate those who have political disagreement. That to me is not a civilized nation. Also to say it supports freedom, and independence of other countries, that have more freedom than they do? Especially, when Mainland China, has been listed as one of the top 5, with human rights violations. They rank very well, and not exactly in this order, but they rank with Iraq, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea. No, I totally disagree with author.

Now the poles said when Nixon returned back home, the poles say 70 % of the American people approved of the visit. No to many people talked with back then approved.

But the good results was:

1.) There was some sustainment with the Soviet Union, and 18 years later, the communist, governments in Russia, and Eastern Europe fell.

2.) Mainland China started later to practice capitalism.

The bed results was:

1.) Taiwan lost it's seat in the U.N.
2.) All of Vietnam is a communist nation.
3.) The U.S. is in $185 Trillion in debt, with Mainland China.

This is what “ The week that changed the world.” Gave us.

Very fair in its analysis of the major characters. Naturally, the book focused on the context surrounding the meeting rather than the week itself but that is what makes it so useful to understanding where the two nations stand today. One shortcoming is that it does not give much analysis to the relationship since the meeting.

This was one of the more nuanced and neutral Western perspectives on China matters that I've read so far. The chapters were quite self-contained and beginner friendly so I can generally recommend it, maybe accompanied with some Chinese first-hand reports.

The chapters were a tiny bit spoon-feeding but not to the detriment of the nonprofessional. Interspersions of biographies on Kissinger, Nixon, Mao, and Zhou introduced some variety in the more linear depiction of the visit itself. Later chapters explain other things happening in the world like Korea, Vietnam, and Indo-China. The reactions of other nations with special emphasis on the USSR were also included and all rounded off with the American aftermath, Mao's death, and the 'cherry' of Watergate.

The painstaking writing of the communique was especially interesting and should be read in parallel (it's very short). It was fought over so many phrasings and word choices, Kissingerian "constructed ambiguity" abound such that it is hard to say what the communique really tries to say.

Towards the end I felt that some more critical questions were in order, especially for Kissinger. It irked me a bit that MacMillan decided to end with a redemptive note on both of them. She was able to penetrate a lot of propaganda and failed (in my unprofessional opinion) a bit to do the last step.

1 remember President Nixon's visit to China vaguely, on the periphery of my more youthful interests. I knew it was important because, after all, Walter Cronkite covered it! Now, as an adult, and having travelled to China, it's interesting to look back on this truly historic event as it is portrayed in Margaret MacMillan's book. While she focusses on that one historic summit week (a week which sowed the seeds of a global shift in superpowers), the author branches out and tells us about the personalities, exchanges and events that got us there. The portrayal of Mao is eerily compelling. But for me, the most interesting depiction is the relationship between Nixon and Kissinger(the tortured, insecure, isolated President and the mercurial, brilliant, charismatic and extremely self-serving Kissinger.)

Michio Kaku, in The Future of the Mind, wrote "Gossiping is essential for survival because the complex mechanics of social interactions are constantly changing, so we have to make sense of this ever-shifting social terrain... Thousands of years ago, in fact, gossip was the only way to obtain vital information about the tribe. One’s very life often depended on knowing the latest gossip.”

Margaret MacMillan is a first-rate academic gossip, wholly entertaining, with the most fascinating and humourous tidbits of trivia all strung together into such a worthwhile read. I felt some parts were a little repetitive, but as someone knowing almost nothing about either Nixon or Mao, this was an exceedingly fun read and not daunting at all as other historical writing can often present itself to me.

Very good overview of one of the most important foreign-policy shifts of the 20th century which set the foundation for inarguably the most important bilateral relationship in political and economic terms in the world today. MacMillan is remarkably impartial in discussing the positive and negative characteristics of both sides, and does a good job exploring not only what happened during that groundbreaking week but setting the stage for that week, investigating the foreign-policy dynamics of the time period, the personalities involved on both sides and the preparation that went into setting up the visit through diplomatic back-channels and whatnot. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in the history of the US-China relationship or foreign policy in general. I'm not really much of a China person myself, so I don't really know how basic the information is in the grand scheme of things, but this might be mostly review for a more seasoned China-watched.

Very interesting look into all that went into making Nixon's trip to China possible as well as insight into the characters of Nixon, Mao, Kissinger and Chou.