The Man Who Stayed Behind Book

This autobiography is not your usual expat in China story. Sidney Rittenberg stayed on in China after his assignment with the US army at the end of WW2 was done, first joining a U.N. mission and then joining the Communists in Yan'an, becoming the first American to ever become a Chinese Communist Party member. Rittenberg climbs to an influential position at China International Radio responsible for translating and delivering Mao Zedong Thought and propagating China's view on communism to the world. Rittenberg witnessed first-hand much of what occurred at upper levels of the CCP and knew many of its leaders personally and had access to many classified documents. He was a fervent believer in the communist cause and his writing illuminates his reasoning very well. Later, he was twice imprisoned in solitary confinement accused of being a spy, for a total of 16 years, when he heard the voice of Jiang Qing in the prison hallway he knew his days in prison were numbered. Rittenberg had a unique opportunity and reading his book I felt having the same privileged access. Rittenberg, together with a co-writer, manages to write without hindsight what went through his mind at the time. Highly recommended reading!