Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World

Summary

Historian Margaret MacMillan is the author of the Sam Johnson Award winner Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World. Here she offers listeners deeper insight into one of the most important summits of the 20th century—the meeting between President Richard Nixon and Chairman Mao Tse-Tung.

By 1972 the U.S. was still mired in Vietnam, and China was reeling from the changes wrought by the cultural revolution. In February of that year the leaders of these two great nations sat down for talks for the first time since 1949. Nixon and Mao both hoped to secure trade and diplomatic relations, but did either get what they truly wanted? MacMillan answers this question and countless others, while detailing how these negotiations continue to affect international relations between the U.S. and China today.