White Mandarin

"1949: the fall of Shanghai, the last obstacle in the path of the victorious Chinese Red army. CIA agent John Polly vanishes, to become that most rare and valuable of all intelligence 'assets' -- a Western mole in the Forbidden City of Chinese communism. An intimate of Mao, imprisoned during the intrigues of the Cultural Revolution, learning the secrets of the People's Republic from the inside out, Polly rises to become a legendary figure in Peking, never ceasing to watch and wait and above all survive -- for the moment to fulfill his original and ultimate mission -- rapprochement between the U.S. and China... the historic Shanghai Communique. The White Mandarin is a superb evocation of opposing historic forces, as well as the story of a profound love between a man and a woman whose differences were, indeed, only skin deep."