PRAISE FOR
On the Front Lines of the Cold War

“All old Asia hands have their stories. Seymour Topping’s were gathered at the most important crossroads of two epochal civil wars into which our country blundered. He tells them with authority and, as if they happened yesterday, an eyewitness’s sense of immediacy. We can all be grateful.”

—JOSEPH LELYVELD, former executive editor of the New York Times

“Seymour Topping was a preeminent foreign correspondent of his time, often filing exclusive stories that chronicled pivotal events at the onset of the Cold War and during the decades following as they shaped the history of the major powers following World War II. Top was everywhere in Asia, from the Chinese Civil War through the Korean Conflict to the fall of Vietnam and Mao’s Cultural Revolution. On the Front Lines of the Cold War engages us with precise detail, eloquent writing, and authoritative insights.”

—BOB GILES, curator of The Nieman Foundation

“For half a century, Seymour Topping chronicled the rise of Communism as it swept across Asia from China down through the Indochinese peninsula, ensnared capitals from Berlin to Havana, enslaving much of Eastern and Central Europe. Now, in this magisterial book, Top, as he’s known to friends and colleagues alike, has brought it all together—weaving a compelling and intricate tale of global events, where he had a ringside seat, with personal stories of heroism and humor. The sweeping photo gallery alone is worth the price of admission. Of all the books on Communism and the Cold War, journalistic careers, and daring-do, this is the one worth reading.”

—DAVID A. ANDELMAN, editor, World Policy Journal

“For the romance, for the history, for the political lessons learned (or not), this is a book to savor. To witness so many world-changing events, to know so many world-changing people, and to have such an impact on them all—I think no journalist is likely ever again to have quite such an adventure as Seymour Topping has had. What a life! Topping fell in love with journalism (by reading Edgar Snow). He fell in love with Audrey (the beautiful and brilliant daughter of an ambassador). He stacked up ‘firsts’—first American correspondent stationed in Saigon, his kids the first Americans in Moscow to attend a Russian school—with every career move. And now he shares it all with us.”

—GENEVA OVERHOLSER, director of the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication