A biography of a journalist who became part of the story he was reporting upon. It gives a good background to China in the years leading up to WW2, and the life of a young American adventurer. It is also an excellent introduction to the cast of Westerners who played some small part in encouraging the transformation of China. In 1936 Snow was the first Western journalist to interview Mao Tse-Tung. Thomas argues that Snow's access was carefully calculated to help build the cult of personality around Mao Tse-Tung. In Snow's subsequent book, 'Red Star Over China' Mao was portrayed to the West (and more significantly to the Chinese themselves) as the leading figure working to modernise China and fight Japanese aggression. Arguably this played a part in Mao's ability to cement himself as the undisputed leader of the Chinese Communist Party from this time onward.

For the next forty years Snow struggles with his role as journalist, propagandist, living 'legend' and bridge between Communist China and the West. Snow became aware that his 'access' to Mao was driven by the Chinese desire to present a carefully calculated image to the West. Frustratingly for Snow, who saw this access as an opportunity to build a real bridge between China and the West, it was thirty five years before Mao needed Snow again in order to lay some of the groundwork for Nixon's visit to China in 1972.

This biography is essential reading for anyone embarking on a tour of Snow's major works ('Red Star Over China', 'Red China Today'). It is also a very important book for anyone interested in how journalism and political influence interact, and as such stands comparison with the biography of Morrison of Peking by Thompson and Macklin. Thomas is easy to read, authorative, and sympathetic. He debunks the legend to reveal the man. It is left open to consider whether Snow changed history, or whether he was simply swept up and along by the tides of politics and war that rolled over China between 1930 and 1971. Thomas's judgement is that while Snow himself hoped to achieve more, his achievements and legacy in journalism were considerable. ( )

China