The Man on Mao's Right
The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry
Author: Ji Chaozhu
Amazon info
What a wonderful surprise - a wonderfully, yet modestly told story that probably taught me more about Chinese 20th century history than anything else I have read. And I finally understand that Chinese (and Vietnamese) names are written - it is always last name first then first name last. Which makes more sense if you say "family name first, given name last". This is the story of Ji Chaozhu (Ji being the family name and Chaozhu being his given name) who is born in China, but grows up in the US, attends Harvard, but leaves to return to China. Although inclined towards engineering, because of his excellent English, he begins as a translator - and as such has incredible visibility into the inner workings of the leaders of China, particlarly Zhou Enlai. "Little Ji" (as he is called, although at ~6'5" he is taller than most men in China - Yao Ming excepted) takes us through the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, The Gang of Four, Nixon's visit, and many other key events of 20th century history - in a remarkably told story.
While the book strives to be accurate and unbiased, the portrayal of Zhou Enlai is so positive, that doubts creep in. But perhaps Zhou Enlai was the "Last Perfect Revolutionary" (the title of a book by Gao Wengian).
Recommended: Highly, to all.