Book Review: 'On China' by Henry Kissinger

From LAT:

Initially, Kissinger acknowledges, he was less drawn to Deng Xiaoping, who was politically rehabilitated after Mao died and guided China's economic modernization during a crucial decade. Kissinger describes Deng's "acerbic, no-nonsense style, his occasional sarcastic interjections and his disdain of the philosophical in favor of the eminently practical … Deng rarely wasted time on pleasantries, nor did he feel it necessary to soften his remarks by swaddling them in parables" as Mao did. Eventually, Kissinger says, he developed "enormous regard for this doughty little man with the melancholy eyes." China today is "a testimonial to Deng's vision, tenacity and common sense," he concludes.