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Iris Chang
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Thread Of The Silkworm Kindle Edition

by Iris Chang (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 93 ratings
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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.
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Previous page
  1. ISBN-13
    978-0465087167
  2. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  3. Publisher
    Basic Books
  4. Publication date
    August 6, 2008
  5. Language
    English
  6. File size
    13516 KB
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Few Americans remember Tsien Hsue-shen, the subject of this book. 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. With Anna Fields's energetic reading, this fascinating book would make a can't-miss addition to any general audiobook collection.AKent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Thread of the Silkworm tells the story of one of the most monumental blunders the United States committed during its era of McCarthyism. It is the biography of Dr.Tsien Hsue-shen, a pioneer of the American space age who was mysteriously accused of being a Communist and deported to China, where he became-to America's continuing chagrin-the father of the Chinese missile program.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00AAL5NIS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (August 6, 2008)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 6, 2008
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 13516 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 386 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 93 ratings

About the author

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Iris Chang

Iris Chang

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Iris Chang lived and worked in California. She was a journalism graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana and worked briefly as a reporter in Chicago before winning a graduate fellowship to the writing seminars program at The Johns Hopkins University. Her first book, Thread of the Silkworm (the story of Tsien Hsue-shen, father of the People's Republic of China's missile program) received world-wide critical acclaim. She is the recipient of the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation's Program on Peace and International Cooperation award, as well as major grants from the National Science Foundation, the Pacific Cultural Foundation, and the Harry Truman Library. She passed away in 2004.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
93 global ratings
Book pages are not cut well
3 Stars
Book pages are not cut well
I haven't started reading this book yet so this is not a review about the content. The book pages are not cut well. The edges don't align with each other, as you may see in the picture. I'm disappointed with the quality of the printing.
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Top reviews from the United States

Baffled in Palatine
5.0 out of 5 stars Such a tragedy that so good a writer left us so early.
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2019
Verified Purchase
I believe Iris Chang wrote three books, all of which I have read and enjoyed. This book is very much like her Chinese in America, where she, a-la-Simon Winchester, discusses so many things related to the subject at hand to greatly enrich the story she's trying to tell. In my opinion, if you're interested enough in this book to read my review, just buy it (or, better yet, get it from your library) and enrich your life.
9 people found this helpful
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Francis Kho
4.0 out of 5 stars Good reference book
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2022
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Like: Very detailed biography book. Well researched
Dislike: Over detailed until very draggy.
4 people found this helpful
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Francisco Borges
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Review of a complex Mind
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2014
Verified Purchase
Well written.!!! Covers the topic well and the athors viewpoint is balanced and well presented. Her sympatetic interepretentions of some times meager facts helps to form a picture of the subject state of mind. Good job even when facts were not available to her.
Good presentation of a very complex state of mind. Recommended.
8 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent Book for Intelligent People
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2016
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"Intelligent and provocative" as the cliche review goes. It definitely isn't cliche as it examines the contributions of an Asian in both spheres of the world. People have to have more than half a brain to read this one!
6 people found this helpful
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S
3.0 out of 5 stars Book pages are not cut well
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
I haven't started reading this book yet so this is not a review about the content. The book pages are not cut well. The edges don't align with each other, as you may see in the picture. I'm disappointed with the quality of the printing.
Customer image
S
3.0 out of 5 stars Book pages are not cut well
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020
I haven't started reading this book yet so this is not a review about the content. The book pages are not cut well. The edges don't align with each other, as you may see in the picture. I'm disappointed with the quality of the printing.
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
4 people found this helpful
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Anunnaki
5.0 out of 5 stars Iris Chang
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2021
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Excellent Read
3 people found this helpful
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Young Ahn
4.0 out of 5 stars And really really stupid were the FBI and INS of America at that ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2016
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This is the very live testimoney how China caught up with American aeronotic rocket technology so quick. And really really stupid were the
FBI and INS of America at that time. Alas!
4 people found this helpful
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Hye-Ryung Ahn
5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Tracing of the Chinese Scientist Status during the notorious McCathism
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2014
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All wonderful historical work! And we can now how China could have such advanced space technology. Very good for Korean

who is thirsty of missile technology to counter the Northern Commuinists.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

MondMichel
5.0 out of 5 stars The Thread of the Silkworm
Reviewed in Germany on February 6, 2021
Verified Purchase
Only now, 25 years after its publication, I recognized that „Thread of the Silkworm“ in fact is a biography of Qian Xuesen, the scientist behind the chinese rocket development program. Highly interested in the history of space flight, I was exited to find a copy offered. International postal delivery to Germany took some 5 weeks, stressing my expectations, but now I am glad to have it added to my collection. It is a quite interesting read.
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