No architect has cast a more indelible impression upon the social and political landscape of the last fifty years than I. M. Pei. He has employed his extraordinary blend of diplomacy and design on behalf of such clients as the Kennedy family, Paul Mellon, Francois Mitterrand, Michael Ovitz and the Bank of China. Michael Cannell is the first biographer to tell Pei's amazing story.

Cannell skillfully provides an inside view of the politics of our built environment, as well as a rare glimpse into the mind and life of the most enigmatic architect of our time, I. M. Pei.