China Hands--BOOK REVIEW

James Lilly’s book, China Hands, is a Foreigner-in-China Adventure Story to rival the spy stories of James Bond (and these stories are true!).While there are a number of exciting stories this book isn’t just a list of adventurous jaunts, it has the real life feelings of a family living, for generations, abroad in China. And this generational storyline gives the reader insights into life in China from early in the last century, through the wars, the political turmoil, the pre-Socialism with Chinese Characteristics days and even life on both sides of the Taiwan straight. It also is written by a family man and includes the perspectives of both a businessman/government official and the accompanying family. The specifics about life in Taiwan vs. China and the details about family, rather than just professional life in China are what make this book unique.Not many people in the world can claim the experiences that James Lilly has had—from meetings with the Presidents of both the Republic of and the People’s Republic of China to being a CIA officer in China before it was open and then a diplomat after normalizing of relations. And as much as this is a story about the life of “spy” in China this is the story of American and Chinese relations for almost all of the last 100 years. As a history of China, it’s written from an on-the-ground perspective—the real life of individual families and the surreal life of international politics at the same time.In addition to the meetings with Deng, Reagan, and others are the dinner parties at the Lilly home, the personal issues of a foreign family living in a Chinese fishbowl, school, constant surveillance and the effects of international political decision on real life people.This is a quick read, a captivating spy-novel with a personal touch. Only real problem is that it’s still only available in hard-cover—kind of a pain to lug around China.