Thomas Griffith Harry & Teddy: The Turbulent Friendship of Press Lord Henry R. Luce & His Favorite Reporter, Theodore H. White.
Random House, 340 pages, $24

reviewed by Terry Teachout

Once upon a time, Theodore White, author of the Making of the President series and celebrity journalist par excellence, was a hungry young reporter sniffing around for a scoop and a patron. He found the first in China and the second in Henry Luce, editor and publisher of Time, who made White a star before breaking with him over the magazine’s policy toward Chiang Kai-shek. All this is well known to amateur historians of American journalism, but it still makes for a good story, especially when recounted by one who knew the principals. Thomas Griffith, an old Luce hand who was assistant managing editor of Time and, later, editor of Life, has chosen to occupy himself in retirement by telling the tale of how Harry and Teddy came to blows over Chinese Communism. Appropriately enough, he has told it in something not far removed from old-fashioned Timestyle, and the results, if not exactly elegant, are lively, readable, and—most important—reliable.

Fresh out of Harvard, White came to China in 1938 equipped with a degree in China studies and a burning desire to become famous. He found a job working in Chiang Kai-shek’s propaganda office; a few weeks later, he met John Hersey, who was looking for a Chungking stringer for Time. White accepted