The U.S. Navy has a rich history in conflicts with China. Between 1931 and 1965, naval services collected, analyzed, and applied intelligence in crises in the Asia Pacific. The U.S. Navy, which had been one of the sole collectors of foreign intelligence prior to World War II, underwent a series of institutional transformations as the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and, later, the CIA, were established. Quiet Wars is the first book to document how and why the Navy developed its HUMINT (human intelligence) capabilities during this key period.

Author Brian J. Ellison presents four case studies of naval HUMINT during crises with China. Part I examines intelligence gathering by the Navy and Marine Corps in China, beginning with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The role of naval HUMINT changed after December 7, 1941, and again with the resumption of the Chinese Civil War; this is the focus of Part II. Part III is a study of the Taiwan crises in the 1950s, and Part IV explores intelligence activities against North Vietnam and China in the 1960s.