Illuminating. Shocking. Compelling.

Ross Terrill traveled in high circles, friends with Rupert Murdoch, prime ministers, US senators, and other politically powerful and well-connected men and women. He was a well-respected political scientist and historian. As a leading expert on China and the author of several award-winning books, he influenced how Americans came to see China and its importance. Henry Kissinger used Ross's Atlantic articles to brief President Richard Nixon for his historic visit to China in 1972. Ross testified numerous times before the United States Congress. He was a special commentator for CBS News, appeared multiple times on the Today Show, ABC's Nightline, and Firing Line, and was frequently a commentator—often from China—on NPR's All Things Considered. He was an eye-witness reporter during the harrowing days of the Tiananmen Square uprising.

But Ross had a secret. Nobody knew he was gay and sexually very active, a life he wrote about for over 40 years in an extremely intimate diary. Breaking the Rules is the first volume of Ross's frank and raw diary. Sexually explicit, it reveals how this talented, influential man juggled his life between a high-powered career and his sexual exploits.

The diary may shock some; it certainly will fascinate and entice many others. It is a guilty pleasure that allows us to look through a keyhole to see the life of an extraordinary man. Ross Terrill flew high in the spotlight while exploring excesses and delights in the shadows. He lived life to its fullest. His diary is both an engaging read and an exceptional peek into LGBTQ history.

Praise for Breaking the Rules

"Two factors distinguish Breaking the Rules from many of its contemporaries. One is the author's decision not to give a damn about repercussions—from the public, his friends, and the many men, some famous, who have come and gone as his sexual partners.

The other is incredulity, especially among heterosexual readers, that anybody could fit so much sexual activity into a career that was already making huge time demands on Terrill: Harvard professor, advisor to US and Australian governments, best-selling author of books, and acclaimed writer of editorials for some of the world's most influential publications. Threaded through all that professional activity is a frenetic counterpoint of sexual adventure that seems like a full-time occupation in itself."

— Fraser Beath McEwing, author of Adam Exx and A Toast to Travel