Excellent book on the rapprochement between the US and China under Nixon. The only issue I have is that the author several times tries to make the point that the Soviet Union was expansionist in the 1970s. They were perhaps seen as such, but knew they were overreaching, specifically in their support of nonaligned countries, talking about support, without putting their money where their mouth was.
The author should have known this.

Well written account of the famous 1972 trip. The author's reputation as a top rank popular historian is certainly deserved.

A very different stage of history from her other books on WW1 & the peace - Nixon and Mao still caries with it MacMillan’s engaging narrative style. We get interesting portrayals of the central figures as real people without getting bogged down in unnecessary psycho-analysis. We get global and national context without being burdened by detail. In short we get an accessible and relatable well-rounded account of the China/US rapprochement. Read this book quickly despite not being the biggest fan of Cold War history. Conclusions are interesting as well, this being a book written 5 years prior to the start of the Xi Jinping era & a reminder how much things have changed.

What I very much enjoyed in MacMillan's 1919 was her incredible gift or historical storytelling; what frustrated me in that book was her enthusiasm for old-school great man history, which filtered the complexities of the diplomacy that ended World War I through the personalities of the (admittedly, larger than life) figures involved. Those same tendencies are on display here, but this time entirely appropriately; the story of Nixon's historic first visit to China really is the story of a handful of great men -- though in some ways Mao is the least of them (she'd lose the parallelism, but the book should really be called Nixon and Chou; it made me want to read a good biography of Chou En-Lai, who seems like one of the most consequential figures of the 20th century as well as a protagonist out of a sweeping Chinese historical epic). That is not to say she ignores the wider political currents of both U.S. and Chinese history; on the contrary, she does a superb job of contextualizing the week-long visit in both the aftermath of China's disastrous Cultural Revolution and Nixon's strategy for his 1972 re-election. But personalities dominate here, as they should, and it makes for a terrific, informative read.

A rare book that delivers more than it promises. Short but interesting looks at the careers of Zhou, Mao and Lin Biao as well as Nixon. And of course Henry Kissinger gets a lot of coverage too. Rich in detail about the diplomacy and planning leading up to the visit. Very readable and packed with interesting anecdotes as well as some very objective analysis. Steers clear of postmodern guilt AND imperialist propaganda. Great job.

This book is a detailed and well-researched account of President Nixon's historic trip to China. But I disagree with its premise: that the move was a bold and brilliant one by Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger. Really, it was about two decades too late (the United Kingdom recognized China in 1950), and was delayed so long in part because of red-baiting politicos like a younger Nixon. Similarly, and despite his Nobel Peace Prize, Kissinger is one of the villains of modern history given his handling of Vietnam, a war that he helped escalate while negotiating its peace.

In-depth and captivating, 'Nixon in China' gives the reader a window on one of the major diplomatic events of the later 20th century. With China's influence in our world much greater than in 1971-72, seeing where the foundation is put down is fascinating.
Macmillan gives us complex portraits of Nixon, Kissinger and Chou En-Lai, as well as the bizarre nature of late Cultural Revolution China. (All sorts of present day North Korea images come to mind). The work is quality reading but at times repetitive and plodding, as the immature, at times absurd world of diplomacy can be.

This book was interesting at parts and dragged in others. I really enjoyed the history portions, but they spent way to much time on the week. Mao really seemed to be someone who power had corrupted. The why in which Nixon turned the whole thing into a TV production was creepy, but I guess not surprising. The best parts where the backgrounds of each of the major Chinese players.

I was excited to read this book so I hate to say it but I think MacMillan's "Paris 1919" is a better book. That said, I learned alot by reading Nixon and Mao including the insights on Mao's personality. Basically I thought Mao was very similar to President Lyndon Johnson - womanizer, country hick, self-centered, and with a total disregard for those around him including while they both defected in front of other people.

MacMillan's note that Nixon was bored with US domestic politics gave me pause - if only he did not become president and perhaps was appointed US Secretary of State instead given that his interest and skill set were in the foreign affairs arena. Perhaps Watergate would not have even happened!

Again, like in Paris 1919 MacMillan writes in great detail and is an accomplished story teller.

3.5 stars

I read this for class and it wasn’t terrible. It was very well-written and informative, but I thought the order of events was confusing and hard to follow at times.

Another greatly researched book by MacMillan, with detailed coverage of the event itself, and the surrounding history and contemporary impact in the US, China and the other affected countries. The Chinese come across as rather blustery, perhaps due their lack of outside contact at the time, and the ravages on diplomacy from the Cultural Revolution. Kissinger, especially, but Nixon as well, appear a bit obsequious in their political (and for their legacies) need to ensure a deal.
I deduct a star because, like with a couple of her other works, her editors have failed her in some places. Some interesting text throughout lack attributions in the Notes. On page 72 the text has numerous typos. Most seriously, at the beginning (page 8), it talks about Nixon as a "young soldier in the army", when he was actually in the Navy. That might seem a trivial quibble, but, coming as it did at the very beginning, it made me wonder reading throughout the rest of the work if other factual errors were included.
Details of the very problematic Sino-Soviet relations since the 1949 Chinese communist takeover were useful, and worthy of further study.
Well worth the read, though. I remember the visit, and what a shock it was that Tricky Dicky would make such a bold and important overture to what were the inscrutable, belligerent Commie devils.

Richard Nixon and Chairman Mao are only two characters in this educational and entertaining book, which looks at Nixon's 1972 state visit to China but also discusses the history of China-US relations in the decades leading up to the visit, as well as the foreign policy issues that the trip had an impact on - the UN, Vietnam, Taiwan, etc. You will end up convinced that the trip is the greatest success in the history of US diplomacy.