Sand Against The Wind: Stilwell And The American Experience In China 1911-45

General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell was an extraordinary man. His attributes - an acid wit, scorn for pretentiousness and a genuine humanity - set him apart from his peers. He also had a deep and lasting love of China, spoke its languages and understood its people as few Westerners have.

In this brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning narrative, Barbara Tuchman combines an authoritative history of America's relationship with China from the fall of the Manchu Dynasty through to the rise of Mao Tse- Tung with a colourful and intimate biography of Vinegar Joe.

Tuchman traces his life from his first visit during the 1911 Revolution through the Second World War when he was the American commander in the China-Burma-India theatre. Enwtined with his fortunes is the story of American and British foreign policy in the Far East. The story reaches its climax with the final confrontation between Stilwell, President Roosevelt's nominee as Commander of all China's land forces, and Generalissimo Chian Kai-shek, the unyielding force meeting the immovable object.