The spring of 1971 heralded the greatest geopolitical realignment in a
generation. After 22 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 inter-section 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.
