Agents of Subversion

John Delury is Professor of Chinese Studies at Yonsei University. He is the coauthor of Wealth and Power. Follow him on X @JohnDelury.

Prologue Part 1: Axis Mundi 1. The Loss of China 2. Realism and Restraint 3. Subversion and Repression 4. Intelligence or Psywar73Part Part 2: Call to Adventure 5. At War in Korea 6. The Third Force 7. Making Counterrevolution 8. Hong Kong Fight League 9. Manchurian Manhunt Part 3: Road of Trials 10. Exfiltration 11. Quiet Americans 12. Subversion on Trial 13. Implausible Denial Part 4: Rescue from Without 14. Prisoners of the Past 15. War and Revolution 16. Release Epilogue

Delury blends first-rate storytelling with diplomatic history. For such an expansive and wide-ranging discussion of US-Chinese relations, Delury should be commended for his attention to detail and commitment to bringing to light sources previously underutilized in US writing on China. (LA Review of Books) A riveting and important case study. Delury retells this remarkable episode in the history of U.S.-Chinese relations with fire and astonishment, using his flair for narrative and his eye for often surreal detail to describe the desperation in Washington in the wake of the Korean War and the fateful decision to use the fledgling CIA to try to undermine Mao's China. (Foreign Affairs) An urgently needed book. (South China Morning Post) Agents of Subversion is a book that you can easily imagine being filmed, being turned into a television series or being discussed with gusto by members of a book club made up of history lovers. (Five Books) An urgently needed, invaluable and deftly written book. (Asia Media International) The book is above all a compelling read that dives deep into the complexities of the geopolitics around the Korean War and its uncertain aftermath, which still shapes regional tensions to this day. (NK News) Agents of Subversion is a compelling and elegantly written narrative of a largely unknown story, ranging from the broad perspectives of foreign policy to the personal tale of one man caught up in it all. (Critical Asian Studies) John Delury has written a beautifully constructed narrative history that moves back and forth between the US and the PRC; Agents of Subversion is a highly readable and entertaining guide to the failure of the CIA's obsessive disruptive mission in China during the 1950s (The China Quarterly)