'Brady's study of Alley is a work of forensic intelligence' - Books in Canada
'Brady's analysis is on the whole a very fair one and a useful account of Alley's role in Sino-New Zealand relations.' - Christchurch Press
'Alley's inner world, the world he grew increasingly wary of sharing either in conversation or in letters, can only be imagined. This book lays the ground for enabling us to begin to penetrate this world... She (the author) has opened up the path for a clearer and more balanced understanding of one of the most colourful and remarkable lives ever lived by a New Zealander.' - The Listener
'Before this book, almost everything that New Zealanders (journalists, politicians, academics) had written about Alley was hagiographic drivel...it would be nice to think that Brady's temperate, reasonable and well-documented book does provoke at least some red faces.' - The Dominion Post
'Ms Brady has written a very important book about a big subject.' - Asian Wall Street Journal
'Anne-Marie Brady is amongst the first to tackle the subject of sexuality in self-imposed exile... a generally sympathetic and understanding account of Alley's life and its significance.' - China Review
'Brady's study is an interesting look at a fascinating subject - the PRC's long-term foreign friends - and by moving beyond hagiography or blanket condemnation one begins to see the complexity of personality and motives behind their personae.' - The China Journal
'Alley's inner world, the world he grew increasingly wary of sharing either in conversation or in letters, can only be imagined. This book lays the ground for enabling us to begin to penetrate this world... She (the author) has opened up the path for a clearer and more balanced understanding of one of the most colourful and remarkable lives ever lived by a New Zealander.' - The Listener
'Before this book, almost everything that New Zealanders (journalists, politicians, academics) had written about Alley was hagiographic drivel...it would be nice to think that Brady's temperate, reasonable and well-documented book does provoke at least some red faces.' - The Dominion Post
