"Lee's story is fascinating and his historical importance is undeniable. In a highly readable and well-researched account, Tsai provides a rich description of Lee's cultural, political and historical milieu. Because Lee's journey is also the story of modern Taiwan, this is a political biography that chronicles a nation's recent history and gives great insight into today's Taiwan politics and the present difficulties of Taiwan-China relations.„ - Denny Roy, author of Taiwan: A Political History (Cornell University Press, 2003)

“Tsai's fascinating, richly detailed biography imbeds Taiwan's Lee Teng-hui in an eighty-year transition from Japanese colonial rule until Lee's election as president of China's first democracy in 1996. Tsai portrays this creative, energetic leader as brilliantly compartmentalizing his beliefs and sentiments, yet always the hands-on leader who never spins out of control as he adapts from one set of circumstances to another, relentlessly changing Taiwan's political life beyond all previous recognition." - Ramon H. Myers, Senior Fellow Emeritus, Consultant, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution & Peace, Modern China Archive and Special Materials