This is a very entertaining book that almost lives up to its title. It covers the evolution of ping pong as an international sport in the 20th century, particularly in east Asia. It is very entertaining and sometimes quite informative, but it rambles A LOT. Be prepared for a winding path.

Griffin's main protagonist is Ivor Montagu, who was the son of a British lord who became a Communist and then the head of international ping pong, which he saw a means to push his political agenda. Montagu is a fascinating figure, which makes Griffin's rambling through his life and his associates enjoyable. Montagu though ping pong was the perfect Communist game because it could be played in factories. It was also useful as propaganda because it could cross borders and was not overtly political. At its best, Montagu used it to support the PRC get recognition by recognizing its right to play, eventually banning Taiwan and then allowing the PRC to host the world championships.

Montagu's life, while interesting and taking up the majority of the book, is still more a sidetrack. The meat of the book is how ping pong became important in China, which Griffin explains in detail. Although it was played often before WWII, Montagu's decision to let the PRC host the World Championships in 1961 was a major turning point for the sports importance. The Chinese government invested a huge amount of resources in finding players, training them full-time and scouting the opposition (the best team at the time was Japan). As a result, they won the championship. What is striking is how the Chinese were controlling the story, letting journalists in Beijing at the height of the Great Leap Forward, but shielding them from the worst effects of it. Griffin shows the ping pong championship as a propaganda coup for the Chinese both at home and abroad and a way to distract from the increasingly obvious failure of the GLF.

The ping pong team would not escape the Cultural Revolution so easily. Many of their members were persecuted, including their star Zhuang Zedong. Zhuang, however, eventually connected with Jiang Qing and was used to persecute others. The team itself was basically under house arrest. They were accused of seeking personal glory and working with imperialists. Their biggest supporter amongst the central committee, He Long, was purged while Zhou Enlai, also a major supporter, was on the defensive. That changed in 1970, when the worst effects of the Cultural Revolution had been toned down. Zhou had gained a stronger position and wanted to use the team to reach out to the world.

This led to the famed meeting between Zhuang and Glen Cowan at the 1971 World Championships in Tokyo. This meeting led to the diplomatic breakthrough between China and the US the following year. Griffin makes a surprising assertion here. He suggests that Zhuang, possibly with Zhou's connivance, set up the meeting on purpose. Most thing I have seen accept it as a happy accident, but Griffin says that Zhuang was too politically savvy to take such a big chance without having thought it through. And he had a gift ready. Cowan was known as a leftist and was the easiest target on the team. Furthermore, the bus left as soon as Cowan was on it, suggesting that they were waiting for him. Finally, Griffin heaps great praise on Zhou throughout the book and sees this as the subtle approach that Zhou would have used to navigate the political problems that an openly political exchange would have brought. I wasn't totally convinced by the argument, but it made me consider the possibilities.

After that, Griffin details the trip to China and how it was stage managed. He also shows the return trip to the US, where the US ping pong team was almost completely ignored, while the press covered the Chinese team almost exclusively. He has some interesting points, such as when the Chinese team would protest statements that Americans would consider pretty benign, like references to Jesus. He also has some interesting points on tracing the lives of some of the members of the team. Cowan had a brief bit of celebrity, including his own talk show, but that soon faded, causing him bouts of depression his whole life. Zhuang would be purged after the Cultural Revolution because of his close ties with Jiang Qing but would later be reinstated and make some recovery of his political position.

This is an excellent book for a general reader. It isn't particularly well-documented, although it does cite sources for its big assertions, so it might leave a specialist wanting more detail on where he got his information from. Overall, it is by far the best account I have read about the day-to-day events of ping pong diplomacy. It is also keeps the big picture in mind of how this sport actually "changed the world". My only reservations about the book are the inconsistent citations and the rambling nature of the first half. It made for great reading, but I would have liked something a little more focused. ( )