Schiffrin was also dean of the School for Overseas Students (1968–70), headed the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace (1979–87), and chaired the US-Israel Educational Foundation (Fulbright Program; 1980–87).

His activities on both national and international level for the aliyah of Jews from the Soviet Union and the release of Prisoners of Zion won worldwide recognition.

[citation needed] He also held research and teaching positions at Harvard (1962–63) and Berkeley (1988–89), and was a guest of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing long before China and Israel established diplomatic relations.

The book follows Sun's early activities, up to 1905, when he established the Tongmenghui (同盟會 United Alliance) and developed the political philosophy known as the "Three Principles of the People" (sanminzhuyi 三民主義).

Schiffrin presents Sun – a peasants' offspring, who received western rather than classical Chinese education – as an instrumental leader whose vigor, dedication, and insistence that only through adopting an advanced republican government China would succeed in catching up and eventually overtaking the West, managed to gain him the sympathy of Chinese intellectuals.

The book received the American Historical Association's John King Fairbank Prize for East Asian Studies in 1969.

Schiffrin explores Sun's activities in a wide range of contexts, highlighting the turning points in early 20th century Chinese history.

Studies in these volumes discuss ideological, constitutional, ethnic, economic, political and biographical aspects, as well as the influence of Chinese Republican Revolution and its leaders in different parts of the world.

It presents case studies from Indonesia, Japan, China, Burma, Egypt and Syria, as well as a theoretical comparative discussion.