Preface<br > THIS book is indebted to many people: to Sir Duncan Wilson， Dr<br > Stephen White， and my wife， all of whom read the whole<br > typescript; to Dr Gregory Treverton， who read most of the second<br > half; to Professor Alec Nove， Miss Edwina Moreton， and Mr<br > Richard Samuel， who read individual chapters; to Mr Raymond<br > Hyatt， for the maps; to Sir Edgar Williams for reading the proofs;<br > to Mrs Jacqueline Simms (Oxford University Press) for invalu-<br > able editorial help; and to Miss Diane Loryman for both<br > decyphering and typing my manuscript. I am deep y grateful to<br > all of them. My especial thanks go to Dr White， who read my<br > typescript in its initial draft form as well as in its final stage， and<br > also greatly facilitated the task of verifying references in Soviet<br > sources.<br > The views expressed in the book are my own. But I hope that<br > those who have read all or part of the typescript will find， in the<br > book， a reflection of their kind but unsparing criticisms. 1 am also<br > grateful to the Chinese People s Institute of Foreign Affairs for<br > inviting me to visit China. If this book shows a clearer<br > understanding of China than its predecessor (Soviet Foreign Policy<br > t96e.-t973)， this is in large measure the result of long talks in<br > Peking and Shanghai on three visits during the past two years.<br > Readers of both books will find that although the first half of the<br > present hook retains the narrative chapters of the earlier one，<br > substantially in the form in which they first appeared， they have<br >: been given a fresh perspective and revised to take account of<br > subsequent developments. All the rest--the Introduction，<br > Chapters t4-25， and the Appendix--ls new material. The<br > chronological cut-off date is 31 December 1982.<br > Monte Veritd<br >:， Asvotut<br >