In 1971, Americans made two historic visits to China that would transform relations between the two countries. One was by US official Henry Kissinger; the other, earlier, visit was by the US table tennis team. Historians have mulled over the transcripts of Kissinger's negotiations with Chinese leaders. However, they have overlooked how, alongside these diplomatic talks, a rich program of travel and exchange had begun with ping-pong diplomacy. Improbable Diplomats reveals how a diverse cast of Chinese and Americans – athletes and physicists, performing artists and seismologists – played a critical, but to date overlooked, role in remaking US-China relations. Based on new sources from more than a dozen archives in China and the United States, Pete Millwood argues that the significance of cultural and scientific exchanges went beyond reacquainting the Chinese and American people after two decades of minimal contact; exchanges also powerfully influenced Sino-American diplomatic relations and helped transform post-Mao China.

Finalist, 2024 Center for Presidential History Book Prize, Southern Methodist University

‘A cast of Improbable Diplomats - newly-minted academics, young athletes, musicians, quirky scientists - populate this fascinating and carefully documented account of the historic reconnection of the US and China. Millwood restores the social element to global history.’

Gordon H. Chang - author of Fateful Ties: A History of America’s Preoccupation with China

‘This is an outstanding book. Essential reading for those interested in the history of Sino-US relations, diplomacy and transnational movements, Pete Millwood’s findings have powerful resonances for the present day, in which a pandemic threatens to resurrect between the two countries barriers troublingly similar to the Cold War’s ideological blockades.’

Julia Lovell - Professor of Modern China at Birkbeck, University of London and author of Maoism: A Global History

‘Through impressive research and deep engagement with historiography, Improbable Diplomats illuminates key moments of cultural exchange between the US and the PRC during the 1970s. Its accounts of scholars and scientists and sportsmen help us better understand just how complex the Sino-American dynamic has been, and continues to be.’

Joyce Mao - Middlebury College

‘Improbable Diplomats reveals both an oft-neglected element to past ties and integrates it into the well-established narratives of high-level negotiations, making clear that neither should be considered in isolation. A vital read for anyone interested in US relations with China.’

Meredith Oyen - author of The Diplomacy of Migration: Transnational Lives and the Making of U.S.-Chinese Relations in the Cold War

‘’Nixon goes to China’ has become the stuff of legend, but as Pete Millwood shows in his absorbing new book, the summit meetings Nixon and Kissinger had with Mao and Zhou were only part of the story. Improbable Diplomats reveals that the ‘exchange diplomacy’ of athletes, musicians, and physicists was integral to the normalization of US-China relations. This brilliant transnational history is a welcome corrective to our usual preoccupation with leaders at the top.’

Andrew Preston - author of American Foreign Relations: A Very Short Introduction

‘Richly documented and nuancedly argued, this transnational history explores exchanges in sports, culture, science and technology that have reshaped US-China relations and the world we live in today.’

Zuoyue Wang - California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

‘This book is a helpful asset to anyone who teaches, studies or wants to know more about the history of US-China relations, particularly between the two “peoples” whose opinions were shaped by, and who were capable of shaping, governmental relations and global geopolitics.’

Yue Du Source: The China Quarterly

‘… historians and policymakers can draw valuable lessons from the book for bilateral relations today, seemingly at the lowest ebb since Nixon’s historic trip over half a century ago …’

Kazushi Minami Source: Diplomatic History

‘Millwood’s clear prose makes ‘Improbable Diplomats’ accessible to specialists and nonspecialists alike. The book will appeal to readers interested in US-China relations, US foreign policy, diplomacy, and transnational history. It is also well worth the time of businesspeople, policymakers, and anyone else with a stake in US-China relations who would benefit from understanding the roots of the relationship as we know it today.’

Jason M. Kelly Source: Journal of Asian Studies

‘… a refreshing and innovative history of the Sino-American rapprochement. A worthy read for all people interested in modern China and its international relations, this book is a timely reminder that we need Sino-American exchanges more than ever in the era of Sino-American confrontation.’

Huang Yanjie Source: Asian Studies Review

‘Millwood’s book meticulously unearths evidence to show how and where ordinary individuals exerted bold influence and ultimately became Improbable Diplomats … It will be essential reading for students of history and international relations, and is particularly important reading in the current climate … Improbable Diplomats presents a truly original thesis and novel method for interpreting Cold War events. Moreover, the author’s storytelling abilities make it both engaging and persuasive.’

Natasha Lock Source: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

‘This rich and welcome addition to a profuse historiography will undoubtedly take its rightful place among the essential reading for both students and experts of contemporary US-China relations.’

Juliette Bourdin Source: H-Diplo Roundtable XXV-21

‘Pete Millwood has made a significant contribution to a growing body of scholarship on nongovernmental actors in international relations, particularly US-China relations.’

Norton Wheeler Source: H-Diplo Roundtable XXV-21

‘… a timely and important book. … coming at a time when the future of the US-China relationship is so fraught, policymakers and scholars who are concerned with keeping this crucial bilateral arrangement from going off the rails should read this book.’

Thomas A. Schwartz Source: H-Diplo Roundtable XXV-21