Following the success of General George C. Marshall's leadership of the American army during the Second World War, he was the obvious candidate for the international mission to broker a coalition government between China's warring Nationalists and Communists. As a US special representative Marshall began enacting miraculous change and under his guiding hand, China's political factions agreed to a ceasefire and settled on the principles of a democratic government. But then the agreements Marshall brokered fractured and civil war came to China.

This fascinating history portrays the incredible beginnings and ultimate failure of Marshall's high-stakes mission. In spellbinding detail, The China Mission chronicles an unforgettable miss-step in American diplomacy that changed the course of global politics for ever more.