Thread of the Silkworm by Iris Chang - November 1996

New York: Basic Books, November 1996. Trade Paperback. First Paperback Edition / full number line. Near Fine. Interior unmarked with light tanning. Spine straight and tight. Light edgewear. Not from a library. No remainder mark. Not clipped. xviii + 329 pages.

The definitive biography of Tsien Hsue-Shen, the pioneer of the American space age who was mysteriously accused of being a communist, deported, and became—to America's continuing chagrin—the father of the Chinese missile program. Born in China in 1911, he came to the United States during the 1930s, earned a Ph.D. at Caltech, and made major contributions to aeronautics, rocketry, and other fields. After applying for U.S. citizenship in the 1950s, however, he became an innocent target of the Red Scare and was deported. Then, instead of assuming the leadership role in America's missile and space programs for which he appeared destined, he helped create the Chinese missile and space program that later supplied the Third World with Silkworm missiles. Tsien's incredible life is the story of one of the greatest blunders ever made by the U.S. government. Chang's biography ranges across the histories of rocketry, aeronautics, nuclear weapons development, and U.S.-China relations.