Adventures of the Ping-Pong Diplomats


Book Description

This story reads like an adventure novel. The only difference is that the events in a novel are made up; these adventures really happened; the people are real; and the political effects of their actions have produced 40 years of peaceful coexistence between the Peoples Republic of China and the United States. This is the only historically complete narrative which covers the actual ping-pong diplomacy events, provides the background foreign policy information to explain why these events happened, & shows what could have happened if there were no ping-pong diplomats. The world news media was prevented from general coverage of the U.S. World Table Tennis Team to China, while U.S. publicity about the return visit of the Chinese World Team to the U.S. on the Grand Tour was largely controlled to serve the political aims and objectives of the Nixon administration. For those average Americans who became our Cold-War Warriors willingly taking the risks involved, and those who worked behind the scenes to make their risks worthwhile; such experiences occur only once in a lifetime. America and the world are a lot better off because of their efforts. Its time to read the real story of ping-pong diplomacy!




Sports Diplomacy


Book Description

This book analyzes the place and role of sport within public diplomacy, including theoretical conceptualizations of the category of sports diplomacy as a sub-category of public diplomacy and empirical research of selected examples of the use of sport within public diplomacy. The empirical part of the book refers to three approaches to sports diplomacy and concerns the utilization of sport by states in order to shape relations with other states, the role of sport in building the international image of a state and the diplomatic subjectivity of international sports organizations. In reference to the first two approaches, the book uses comparative case study was in order to make observations and generalizations concerning sports diplomacy. Apart from that, the book includes a detailed study of the diplomatic subjectivity of the International Olympic Committee.




Your Food - My Adventure


Book Description

Rick Marrs, Ph.D., has been a soul care provider for decades, first as a Christian counselor and licensed psychologist, then as a pastor and seminary professor. He has taught Christ-centered soul care to thousands of counselors and pastors. “Phil Bradshaw and I are both Illinois farmers who share a passion for the land and a desire to help feed a growing global population. I have had the pleasure of working with Phil on many issues during my career, especially while serving as the US Secretary of Agriculture for President Ronald Reagan’s administration. Phil has always been a champion for agriculture, traveling the globe to improve the lives of people. A lot of misinformation about food and farming exists today, this book gives a factual, firsthand perspective on food production and will give you a better understanding of today’s farmer.” John Block, former US Secretary of Agriculture Philip E. Bradshaw shares stories and recollections from a lifetime of farming in this memoir that celebrates a way of life. He highlights the advancement of farming and reflects on his efforts advocating for agriculture, serving as a leader, and policymaker, and traveling to more than 53 countries and meeting seven U.S. presidents along the way. Born on a family farm in Pike County, Illinois, he grew up during the turbulent 1940s and 1950s amid cows, chickens, and pigs—taking trips to Mexico and helping haul dozens of pigs at a time to the stockyards in East St. Louis in a truck. The author reflects on everything from the importance of international trade, starting his own career in farming, serving in the Army Reserves during the Cold War, managing his money, and meeting his future wife, Linda Bradburn, while speaking about farming at a meeting for young adults. He provides a meaningful historical perspective on how food production has progressed and explores where it is headed in the future—all while celebrating the importance of good living and helping others.




Season of High Adventure


Book Description

In 1928, Edgar Snow (1905-1972) set out to see the world, hoping to make his mark as a travel-adventure writer. Shanghai was to be a mere stopover, but Snow stayed on in China for thirteen more years. The idealistic young Midwesterner became a journalist and ultimately developed close friendships with China's emerging revolutionary leaders. His 1938 classic, Red Star over China, strongly influenced American views of the Chinese Communists and is still in print nearly sixty years later. This biography breaks fresh ground with its unique and extensive use of Snow's diaries of over forty years. These writings convey Snow's private hopes and fears, his moods and motivations. Thomas skillfully links them with Snow's public writings and deeds. By recreating the milieu in which Snow worked in China, Thomas provides a clearer understanding of both the man and his times. Snow came to China devoid of any political agenda or sinological background. He returned home a politically astute China hand and famed journalist-author. His writing had taken on the nature of political action, which resulted in troubled soul-searching that Snow usually confined to his diary. Thomas's portrait of Ed Snow reveals a man caught up in an important historical moment, a man who profoundly influenced, and was influenced by, the events that swirled around him. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1997.







Exploring the World: Adventures of a Global Traveler


Book Description

Professor Howard J. Wiarda, a leading academic expert on foreign policy, comparative politics, and international affairs, is the author of more than eighty books. Wiarda has traveled to many of the worlds most troubled and exciting places. Now, in the more personal accounts of his global travels, he recalls his foreign research adventures, the countries visited, and the people he met and interviewed along the way. Wiardas new four-volume set, Exploring the World: Adventures of a Global Traveler, details his travels and foreign adventures since 2006. In these travel books, he tells the stories that lie behind the research, offers his impressions of the countries and regions he has explored, and considers how and why some have been successful and others not. Volume I in this new series tells the story of Wiardas 2010 circumnavigation of the globe. Volume II focuses on Europe and the continued importance of European regionalismdespite the bumper stickers advertising Europe Whole and Free. Volume III deals with Latin America and questions whether the region is really as democratic as we would like it to be. Volume IV provides Wiardas analysis of Asias economic miracles while also recounting his recent visits to the Persian Gulf and his assessment of modernization and development in the Islamic world. Insightful and entertaining, Wiardas travel narratives offer commentary on important and interesting sites all over the world.




Foreign Food Adventures


Book Description

Food and photography describe the reasons this professor of food science journeyed around the world with camera and pen in hand. Come along on her flavorful adventures.




Ping-Pong Diplomacy


Book Description

Combining the insight of Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains the World and the intrigue of Ben Affleck’s Argo, Ping Pong Diplomacy traces the story of how an aristocratic British spy used the game of table tennis to propel a Communist strategy that changed the shape of the world. THE SPRING OF 1971 heralded the greatest geopolitical realignment in a generation. After twenty-two years of antagonism, China and the United States suddenly moved toward a détente—achieved not by politicians but by Ping-Pong players. The Western press delighted in the absurdity of the moment and branded it “Ping-Pong Diplomacy.” But for the Chinese, Ping-Pong was always political, a strategic cog in Mao Zedong’s foreign policy. Nicholas Griffin proves that the organized game, from its first breath, was tied to Communism thanks to its founder, Ivor Montagu, son of a wealthy English baron and spy for the Soviet Union. Ping-Pong Diplomacy traces a crucial inter­section of sports and society. Griffin tells the strange and tragic story of how the game was manipulated at the highest levels; how the Chinese government helped cover up the death of 36 million peasants by holding the World Table Tennis Championships during the Great Famine; how championship players were driven to their deaths during the Cultural Revolution; and, finally, how the survivors were reconvened in 1971 and ordered to reach out to their American counterparts. Through a cast of eccentric characters, from spies to hippies and Ping-Pong-obsessed generals to atom-bomb survivors, Griffin explores how a neglected sport was used to help realign the balance of worldwide power.




The Origin of Ping-Pong Diplomacy


Book Description

Why and how did Japan Table Tennis Association President Goto Koji invite China to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, in 1971 (the Nagoya World's)? Against strong opposition at home and abroad, Goto Koji created a stage for Premier Zhou Enlai to launch Ping-Pong Diplomacy, which changed world history forever




Adventure Guide to Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines


Book Description

My wife and I took this book with us on a recent Yankee Clipper" cruise from Windjammer. The book was quite useful with good descriptions (usually a paragraph or two) of the accomodations and restaurants on the islands we visited (Grenada, Mayreau, Bequia, Carricou, Tobago Cays). The authors were very up front about the experiences they DIDN'T like which helped us to avoid frustration. The book also had a nicely organized table of contents which helped navigate the book quickly... This is an excellent guidebook for the area and is highly recommended." -- Matthew Clark (Amazon reviewer). A guide to St Vincent, Grenada and the Grenadines. It covers Mustique, Bequia, Palm Island, Tobago Cays, Carriacou, Mayreau, Petit St Vincent, St Vincent and Grenada, at the southern end of the Caribbean arc, just below St Lucia. St Vincent has the oldest botanical gardens in the Americas; on Bequia, some islanders still harpoon whales as their ancestors did; Grenada has pristine reefs and abundant natural beauty; and tiny Mustique, home to countless celebrities, has verdant mountains. The series of "Adventure Guides" are about living more intensely, waking up to your surroundings and truly experiencing all that you encounter. Each book offers a mix of practical travel information along with activities designed for everyone, no matter what their age or ability. Comprehensive background information - history, culture, geography and climate - presents a knowledge of each destination and its people. Regional chapters take you on an introductory tour, with stops at museums, historic sites and local attractions. The volumes also cover: places to stay and eat; transportation to, from and around your destination; practical concerns; useful websites; e-mail addresses; and tourism contacts. Detailed regional and town maps feature walking and driving tours. "This guide is immediate and thorough; it give a host of places and activities that could fulfill even the most bored tourist's desires. The book is salted with the kind of personal experience that makes visiting these islands so special. They take us away from palm beaches, island vistas and rugged emerald mountains and put us in touch with the people who inhabit these beautiful places. From fishermen in Barrouallie to Rastas in the Port Elizabeth market and a botanist in St. George's, we get a sense of the lives that entwine to make up the fabric of these islands. Also, each section begins with a history of the place at hand, so important to understanding the southern Windwards. The authors have produced a journeyman labor, a product of discernment and enterprise tempered with warmth and humor. Those of us who have seen the southern Windwards as a special place for so long have reason to be thankful and relieved."Paul Tyler, Caribbean Compass