Laura Tyson Li

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Selected by Booklist as an "Editor's Choice" 2006 book

"Her whole life was a power lunch! What a wild ride she had. And she stayed thin!" —Joan Rivers, comedienne


"She was the center of everything." —Victor Navasky, publisher emeritus of The Nation



About the book
Written by a former correspondent for the Financial Times, MADAME CHIANG KAI-SHEK: China's Eternal First Lady tells the story of an extraordinary woman who symbolizes America’s long, vexed love affair with China, as well as China’s own struggle to define itself as a world power. Brilliant, charismatic, and glamorous, she was both celebrated as "the world’s greatest living woman" and condemned as a scheming and manipulative "Dragon Lady."

Attention, Book Clubs:
If your club chooses to read Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Laura Tyson Li will join you by telephone for a 30-minute conference call to discuss the book -- free of charge. Email the author at lauratysonli@gmail.com to set up a book talk.

To order the book, request an interview with the author, or to receive publicity materials from Atlantic Monthly Press, please contact Deb Seager at dseager@groveatlantic.com.





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Praise for Madame Chiang Kai-shek...

"The first biography of the Wellesley-educated charmer portrays her as a tragically complex Scarlett O'Hara figure, at once outspoken and submissive, devoutly religious and coldly calculating, triumphantly Chinese and alien to her compatriots."The Atlantic Monthly

“Laura Tyson Li's incisive new biography… rises to the tall task of capturing this pivotal figure in all her splendor and humiliation, against a backdrop of war, revolution and unending political turmoil." Los Angeles Times

“Madame Chiang Kai-Shek belongs with Eleanor Roosevelt and Eva Peron as three of the most politically influential women of the past century. In her comprehensive biography, Laura Tyson Li... presents both sides of this complicated woman.”USA Today

"Amply conveying her subject's charisma without falling under its spell, Tyson Li . . . offers a well-researched, fluently written assessment of the life and impact of one of the 20th century's iconic figures." Publishers Weekly

"With...a phenomenal gift for elucidating intricate politics and complicated psyches, Li brilliantly analyzes a fearless and profoundly conflicted woman of extraordinary force."Booklist (starred review)

“Journalist Laura Tyson Li has written a masterful portrait, pulling Madame Chiang out of the dustbin of history and… restoring her to a prominent place in Chinese scholarship.”New Jersey Star-Ledger

"...fascinating and truly magnificent...a nuanced, balanced, and amazingly detailed look at one of the most admired yet polarizing women of the 20th century." —Lisa See, author of On Gold Mountain

"Breathtakingly researched and richly drawn, this is a fascinating portrait of one of contemporary history's most enduring and colorful boldfaced names." –Jeff Yang, author of Once Upon a Time in China: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong Cinema

"...riveting...an impeccably balanced portrayal of this weird compound of Joan of Arc and Marie Antoinette..." —Philip Snow, author of The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China, and the Japanese Occupation

"...a stunning achievement. Readers will be mesmerized..." —Ramon H. Myers, Senior Fellow Emeritus, Hoover Institution and Stanford University

"An amazing book. Madame Chiang Kai-shek is clearly one of the great characters of history, and Laura Tyson Li does her great justice..." —Seth Faison, former Shanghai bureau chief for the New York Times and author of South of the Clouds

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