Foreign Affairs
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.
Five Books
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.
Critical Asian Studies
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.
South China Morning Post
An urgently needed book.
NK News
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.
The China Quarterly
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
Asia Media International
An urgently needed, invaluable and deftly written book.
LA Review of Books
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.
