Eyes and Ears

Name: Eyes and Ears
Price: 79.39 AUD
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ISBN: 9781009604383

Secret Agent Work in Cold War China

Michael Schoenhals (Lunds Universitet, Sweden)

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Paperback

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English

Cambridge University Press
19 February 2026

Asian history; Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000; Diplomacy; Espionage & secret services

This essential primary-source reader brings together documents collected over decades of research into security agency tradecraft and Chinese Cold War-era human intelligence. Michael Schoenhals' expert translation of the texts teases out meanings from memoranda, decodes marginal notes from senior officers, and unpacks the hastily scribbled communications of covert human assets. Together, these sources trace the resilience of covert human intelligence as an institution, even when faced with revelations of major misconduct and calls for its reform. With editorial introductions providing valuable context, this collection offers an informed interpretation of the domestic recruitment and running of agents that sheds critical new light on Chinese security agencies' intelligence gathering operations and capacity building during the Cold War.

By: Michael Schoenhals (Lunds Universitet Sweden)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 399g
ISBN: 9781009604383
ISBN 10: 1009604384
Pages: 268
Publication Date: 19 February 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Michael Schoenhals is Professor Emeritus of Chinese at the Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University. He is author of Doing Things with Words in Chinese Politics (1992), Mao's Last Revolution (with Roderick MacFarquhar) (2006), and Spying for the People: Mao's Secret Agents, 1949–1967 (2013).

Reviews for Eyes and Ears: Secret Agent Work in Cold War China

'This is a unique collection of first-hand documents from the clandestine inner workings of the Chinese secret police and their network of informers. Skilfully introduced, Michael Schoenhals takes us into the abysses and banalities of communist persecution under Mao. The underbelly of Stalinist civilisation – Chinese style. Anyone interested in secret police and their informers will find a wealth of comparative material in this collection.' Jens Gieseke, Leibniz-Centre for Contemporary History 'Eyes and Ears draws on discarded documents to describe how the state recruited people to spy on their neighbors in Cold War China. Everyday surveillance is by turns humdrum, tedious, chilling, and occasionally hilarious. Schoenhals illuminates China's particularities without ever letting us forget that these practices are common to all modern states.' Gail Hershatter, University of California, Santa Cruz 'This volume makes an indispensable contribution to a much neglected area of study. No serious student of Cold War China can afford to overlook it.' R. Gerald Hughes, Aberystwyth University