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The Scientist and the Spy: A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionage
Bottom of the pile
21
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
8/100Critics
34/100Scholars
Author:
Mara Hvistendahl
Publisher:
Riverhead Books
Date:
February 4, 2020
A true story of industrial espionage in which a Chinese-born scientist is pursued by the U.S. government for trying to steal trade secrets, by a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction.
What The Reviewers Say
A former Midwesterner who is equally comfortable in farmers’ kitchens as in her high-rise apartment in Beijing, Hvistendahl is uniquely situated to tell this unexpectedly dramatic story.
How do you make a story about some Chinese guys pilfering corn from an Iowa farm field into a fascinating, timely book that is global in scope? Easy. Report as thoroughly and write as well as Minneapolis journalist Mara Hvistendahl does.
Hvistendahl makes industrial espionage both understandable and riveting, chiefly by focusing her narrative on two scientists (one Chinese, one American, both manipulated by DBG) who, wittingly and unwittingly, are forced into collecting seeds and information for DBG. This is a complex story, but it’s presented clearly and vividly, thanks to Hvistendahl’s background as a science journalist here and in China; to her exquisite pacing; and to her narrative skills. Unlike many current spy books, which focus on long-ago espionage, this one examines an investigation into the pressing, ongoing problem of industrial espionage. Hard to put down and harder to stop thinking about..
Ms. Hvistendahl deftly turns this material into a compelling whodunit ...What this captivating and well-researched book doesn’t do is to say very much about what America’s best course would be in the face of what is clearly a state-driven effort by China to vacuum up as much technology and know-how from the U.S. as it can. Perhaps that is asking too much. As Ms. Hvistendahl makes clear, China doesn’t solely rely on people of Chinese extraction to collaborate in its catch-up efforts..
