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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Saddened by the passing of John Grady, an incredibly collegial, supportive and public-minded editor and writer. It was an honor to get to know him through the Biographers International military history roundtable.

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Posting somewhat belatedly, here's a piece I wrote for the Boston Globe about Evans Carlson's visions for the US and China in WWII. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/11/o...

bostonglobe.com

When the US was gung ho for China - The Boston Globe

Right after World War II, a crucial alliance between the two countries fell apart. We are still paying the price.

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

New interview just posted, talking about Evans Carlson with the School of War podcast. Great conversation with a really knowledgeable host. open.spotify.com/episode/4nlM...

open.spotify.com

Ep 219: Stephen Platt on Mao's China and the Original Marine Raider

School of War · Episode

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Rick Green @bcbrews.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

#histbookchat Having recently read "The Raider" by @stephenplatt.bsky.social‬, I'm chuffed that @ww2tv.bsky.social will have Stephen on #WW2TV to chat about the extraordinary #USMC Evans Carlson on August 4. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoHH...

youtube.com

The Raider: Evans Carlson USMC and US-China relations in WWII

YouTube video by WW2TV

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Washington Independent Review of Books @wirobooks.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

An Interview with Stephen R. Platt. www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/an-... @aaknopf.bsky.social @stephenplatt.bsky.social #Booksky

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

A street scene in late Qing-dynasty Beijing—layers of commerce, Peking dust, and daily life. Likely around Qianmen, ca 1900.

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Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

USMC 3rd Battalion 4th Marines march in the Shanghai International Settlement, 1933

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Jeff Wasserstrom @jwassers.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

A @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social interview on my to listen list (first in the military history category), this one with @stephenplatt.bsky.social on his new book about China & WWII and a many faceted American soldier newbooksnetwork.com/the-raider

newbooksnetwork.com

Stephen R. Platt, "The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II" (Knopf, 2025) - New Books Network

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

One of my favorite interviews I've done on The Raider just posted today. The Curious Man's podcast. Great host, insightful questions. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

podcasts.apple.com

Stephen R. Platt Interview

Podcast Episode · Thecuriousmanspodcast · 05/20/2025 · 1h 2m

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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 16/05/2025

Read an excerpt from @stephenplatt.bsky.social's new book "The Raider": chinabooksreview.com/2025/05/15/t...

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Talking China, opium and empire with the inimitable Will and Anita at the Empire podcast. This was the final episode of their marvelous "Victorian Narcos" series: podcasts.apple.com/tm/podcast/v...

podcasts.apple.com

Victorian Narcos: From Opium To Fentanyl (Ep 9)

Podcast Episode · Empire · 14/05/2025 · 45m

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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 15/05/2025

In 1937, a U.S. military officer set off with Mao Zedong’s troops to raid Japanese-occupied territory in the north of China. The Communist guerillas, he felt, could be a model for America's military to emulate. Read an excerpt from @stephenplatt.bsky.social: chinabooksreview.com/2025/05/15/t...

chinabooksreview.com

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Alfred A. Knopf @aaknopf.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Out today! 🏖️ FEVER BEACH by Carl Hiaasen 🌊 THE BOY FROM THE SEA by Garrett Carr 🚲 LIFE AND ART by Richard Russo 🕯️ HOW TO BE WELL by Amy Larocca 🪖 THE RAIDER by Stephen R. Platt 👁️ NEVER LET ME GO (20th Anniversary Special Edition) by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

It's a hell of a story, and I've greatly enjoyed the past several years of research. I am fortunate to be the first historian ever to gain access to Carlson's personal papers, making possible the first full, three-dimensional biography of him that's ever been written. I hope you'll give it a read.

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

A war correspondent in 1944 described him as the most beloved officer in the Marine Corps to the enlisted men. But his reputation would be posthumously destroyed in the McCarthy era on account of his connections to the Chinese Communists. Today he is forgotten.

Carlson in helmet near the end of his life.

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Carlson was a darling of the wartime press and one of the most decorated Marines of his time. Here he is receiving his third Navy Cross from Admiral Nimitz:

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

He modeled his Raider battalion directly on what he had learned in China. As he wrote to a friend from Guadalcanal, "The old master's philosophy is the guiding force in my organization." The "old master" was Zhu De, the tactical genius behind China's Red Army.

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

After Pearl Harbor, Carlson founded the legendary 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, an early U.S. special forces unit that would gain national fame in the Pacific. Here they are on Guadalcanal:

A group of Marine Raiders on Guadalcanal

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

He was on a personal mission from FDR to learn about the tactics and organizational methods of China's armies. He came out of the experience an apostle of guerrila warfare.

Carlson in a magazine as "Number One Guerrilla"

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

It's a biography of an extraordinary WWII Marine named Evans Carlson, who embedded with China's communist Eighth Route Army in the late 1930s. Here he is with Mao:

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Happy to report that I've got a new book out, The Raider.

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Congratulations to Edward Wong for winning the first-ever Baifang Schell Book Prize!

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OLLI at Berkshire Community College @olliatbcc.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Come for the wild story, stay for the history! Tickets: berkshireolli.org/event-6162274 Prof. Stephen R. Platt on his book: The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. ET Online via Zoom

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Frieder Dengler @friederdengler.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Very interesting podcast episode (Trump as Qianlong??). Podcast doesn't really do justice to how far EIC and British govt were apart on China (much better in @stephenplatt.bsky.social book), but A+ snark from podcast host

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

This is probably the most fun I've had at a book talk. Imperial Twilight, in conversation with William Dalrymple at the Jaipur Literature Festival. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IPr...

youtube.com

Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the end of China’s Last Golden Age

YouTube video by Jaipur Literature Festival

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Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

US Marines in winter uniform by Soochow (Suzhou) Creek atbthe foot of the Garden Bridge (Waibaidu) during the 1932 January 28 incident aka the Shanghai incident (January 28 – March 3)

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Had a great conversation about opium and war in 19th-c China with Russell Hogg of the "Subject to Change" podcast. t.co/5jjVcXBXNy

t.co

https://pod.link/1436447503/episode/0e09dfd011ff93784cffec2f9d206cd5

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading.

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Stephen R. Platt @stephenplatt.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

So much fun talking about the Opium War and trashing on the East India Company with William Dalrymple last week in Jaipur.

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