Terry Lautz - Böcker

John Birch is a totemic figure in American life. The society named after him is one of the famous far-right organizations in American history. It was also a paradigmatic example of anti-communist hysteria during the Cold War, and its influence on the American far right to this day remains significant. Yet despite his posthumous fame, Birch himself remains an obscure figure. Terry Lautz, a longtime scholar of US-China relations, has spoken with all of Birch's remaining relatives, found shoeboxes filled with letters from one of his former lovers, and visited the various sites in China where he worked. The result is the first authoritative biography of this fascinating figure, who continues to haunt the political fringes of American life. Birch grew up in the rapidly growing Bible culture of the post-World War I period, and then became a missionary in China in the tumultuous period of its war against the Japanese and the escalating conflict between nationalists and communists. He fought with Claire Chennault's famed Flying Tigers and had a number of romantic relationships with women along the way. After the war ended, he committed himself to resuming his missionary activities in China, but was killed by communist guerrillas in an altercation a couple of weeks after the war ended in September 1945. A few years after his death, when China fell to the communists, anti-communists in Congress latched onto his life and promoted him as a martyr. Within a few years, Robert Welch, a candy manufacturer in New England, formed the John Birch Society, an extreme right-wing organization whose influence is still visible in the Tea Party movement. Lautz covers Birch's life and his afterlife, and also places him not merely in the context of the American far right, but in the revolutionary war that consumed China in the 1930s and 1940s.In this critical study of a figure who has reached near-legendary status, Lautz cuts through the mythology to expose John Birch-both the man and the political phenomenon.

Americans in China tells the dramatic stories of individual women and men who encountered the People's Republic of China as adversaries and emissaries, mediators and advocates, interpreters and reporters, soldiers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and scholars.In Americans in China, Terry Lautz provides a series of biographical portraits of Americans who have lived and worked in China from before the Communist era to the present. The pathbreaking experiences of these men and women provide unique insights and deeply human perspectives on issues that have shaped US engagement with the People's Republic: politics, diplomacy, education, business, art, law, journalism, and human rights. For each of these Americans, China was more than just another place: it was an idea, a cause, a revolution, a civilization. Some of them grew up in China while others were motivated by curiosity and adventure. Some believed Red China was an existential threat while others looked to the People's Republic as a socialist utopia. Still others--including a number of Chinese Americans--worked to improve US-China relations for personal or professional reasons. Looming over their narratives is the quandary of whether divergent Chinese and Western worldviews could find common ground. Was it best to abide by Chinese norms, taking into account China's unique history and culture? Or should individual civil and human rights be defended as universal? Would China move in the direction of Western-style liberal democracy? Or was the Communist Party destined to follow an authoritarian path? The figures in this book had distinctive answers to such questions. Their stories hold up a mirror to our two societies, helping to explain how we have arrived at the present moment.

Chinese Encounters with America tells the stories of twelve women and men whose American experiences transformed their lives and influenced China’s trajectory, with a particular focus on the period after Beijing and Washington established full diplomatic relations in 1979. Each chapter recounts how these Chinese citizens interpreted America and adapted their understanding to bolster China’s quest for modernization.Their professions range from diplomacy, business, and science to sports, education, and the arts, but their distinctive stories are united by shared questions: Why did they go the United States, and why did they return to China? What difference did their encounters with America make in their lives and careers? What do their experiences tell us about the complexities of Sino-American interactions?At a time when US-China relations are contentious, this book challenges the idea that American and Chinese interests and values are incompatible. It shows that personal encounters have been instrumental in finding common ground, even when there are differences and disagreements. Through vivid and engaging profiles, Chinese Encounters with America offers a fresh, nuanced understanding of the world’s most pivotal relationship.