For years, Faina, the Russian wife of Chiang Kai-shek''s son Ching-kuo, was a missing link in our understanding of 20th century China. Mark O''Neill''s new biography tells an astonishing story of a young woman who started as a Soviet factory worker and found herself deeply entwined in the political turmoil of the formation of modern China. This is not just a story of a political couple, but rather a wideranging and compelling tale of the forces that shaped a political generation - and eventually, democracy in Taiwan.

　　--Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China; Director of the University of Oxford China Centre