This timely collection of essays examines Sino-American relations during the Second World War, the Chinese Civil War and the opening of the Cold War. Drawing on new sources uncovered in China, Taiwan, the UK and the US, the authors demonstrate how 'grassroots' engagements - not just elite diplomacy - established the trans-Pacific networks that both shaped the postwar order in Asia, and continue to influence Sino-US relations today. In these crucial years, servicemen, scientists, students, businesspeople, activists, bureaucrats and many others travelled between the US and China. In every chapter, this innovative volume's approach uncovers their stories using both Chinese and English language sources. By examining interactions among various Chinese and American actors in the dynamic wartime environment, Uneasy Allies reveals a new perspective on the foundations of American power, the brittle nature of the Sino-American relationship, and the early formation of the institutions that shaped the Cold War Pacific.

‘In Uneasy Allies, a group of brilliant and exciting early career scholars demonstrates that US-China relations during the Second World War and the early Cold War were forged less by high level politicians than by an improvised web of relations forged by entrepreneurial scientists, engineers, businesspersons, soldiers, and chancers from both China and the USA. This is work of the first order.’

Hans van de Ven - University of Cambridge and Peking University

‘This timely volume reorients the study of state-to-state relations to people-to-people ties. It offers multiple accounts of extensive non-governmental engagement notable for the private will to connect. An important contribution that fuses diplomatic history and trans-Pacific studies.’

Wen-hsin Yeh - University of California, Berkeley