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Stephen R. Platt, professor of history, has written a new book about one of the most decorated, legendary and controversial officers of World War II.

“The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II,” which was published May 13 by Knopf, is the first authoritative biography of Evans Carlson, a secret confidant of FDR and commander of America’s first modern special forces battalion.

After embedding with Mao’s communist forces during the Sino-Japanese War, Carlson trained his own Marine battalion to fight with Chinese guerilla tactics and dedicated the rest of his life to bridging the cultural divide between the U.S. and China. His wartime heroics in the Pacific propelled him to fame—he was the subject of a Hollywood movie, a household name, and introduced the term “gung-ho” to the English language. But his reputation was destroyed during the McCarthy Era after he was accused of being a communist radical. “The Raider” is a stunning account of Evans Carlson’s forgotten life and legacy; through Carlson, the book presents a WWII history that spans the U.S., China, and the Pacific, revealing the root of geopolitical tensions between Chinese communists and nationalists, mainland China and Taiwan, and the U.S. and China today.

Platt is the first historian to receive access to Carlson’s family letters, correspondence and private journals, allowing him to depict Carlson’s complex interior alongside the dramatic events of his life in cinematic detail. Platt tells tales of fighting in China and the Pacific—from island raids to guerilla marches—and demonstrates how Carlson became legendary for his audacity and courage on the battlefield. At the same time, Platt reveals Carlson’s dreamy idealism—how he admired the Chinese and spent much of his life trying to improve the relationship between Americans and Chinese people. The result, as Platt writes, is a life “riven by contradictions…a ruthless battlefield commander who led his men in discussions of social progress and racial equality…a World War II hero who would be all but disowned by his service, pilloried as a suspected radical, and forgotten in the postwar era.”

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Platt is an award-winning historian of China and the West whose books include “Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom” (Knopf, 2012), which won the Cundill History Prize, and “Imperial Twilight” (Knopf, 2018), which was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize.

“The Raider” has already received high praise, with Publisher’s Weekly calling the book “Rousing…Platt’s narrative delivers plenty of blood and guts action while serving as a revealing exploration of the ardent attraction many Westerners felt toward Chinese communism. The result is a gripping, complex study of a military romantic who mixed ruthlessness with idealism.”

“’The Raider’ is more than a biography; it’s a tale of adventure, cultural exchanges gone awry, and one man’s realization of the vast opportunities the world has to offer,” Booklist said in its review. “This groundbreaking book fills a significant gap in historical literature and is an essential read for casual history enthusiasts and professional historians alike.”

“Evans Carlson’s legacy is both legendary and mythical,” wrote Frank Kalesnik in his endorsement of the book. Kalesnik is the former command historian for the U.S. Marine Forces Special Operations Command and chief historian of the Marine Corps History Division. “Dr. Stephen Platt, an expert in modern Chinese history, cuts through the fabulism to provide an accurate and insightful portrait of Carlson, both as a Marine and as a man. Carefully researched and thoughtfully written, ‘The Raider’ is highly recommended.”

To order “The Raider,” or to listen to a sample of its audiobook, visit penguinrandomhouse.com.