Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937-1945 - Hardcover

Mitter, Rana

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 061889425X ISBN 13: 9780618894253

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013

Synopsis

The epic, untold story of China’s devastating eight-year war of resistance against Japan

For decades, a major piece of World War II history has gone virtually unwritten. The war began in China, two years before Hitler invaded Poland, and China eventually became the fourth great ally, partner to the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. Yet its drama of invasion, resistance, slaughter, and political intrigue remains little known in the West.

Rana Mitter focuses his gripping narrative on three towering leaders: Chiang Kai-shek, the politically gifted but tragically flawed head of China’s Nationalist government; Mao Zedong, the Communists’ fiery ideological stalwart, seen here at the beginning of his epochal career; and the lesser-known Wang Jingwei, who collaborated with the Japanese to form a puppet state in occupied China. Drawing on Chinese archives that have only been unsealed in the past ten years, he brings to vivid new life such characters as Chiang’s American chief of staff, the unforgettable “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell, and such horrific events as the Rape of Nanking and the bombing of China’s wartime capital, Chongqing. Throughout, Forgotten Ally shows how the Chinese people played an essential role in the wider war effort, at great political and personal sacrifice.
Forgotten Ally rewrites the entire history of World War II. Yet it also offers surprising insights into contemporary China. No twentieth-century event was as crucial in shaping China’s worldview, and no one can understand China, and its relationship with America today, without this definitive work.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

“Restor[es] a vital part of the wartime narrative to its rightful place . . . A remarkable story, told with humanity and intelligence; all historians of the second world war will be in Mitter’s debt . . . No one could ask for a better guide.” — Guardian (UK)

“Illuminating and meticulously researched . . . A story, pure and simple, of heroic resistance against massive odds.” — Economist

“The best narrative of that long-ago war, whose effects still linger in China today." — Spectator (UK)

“Rana Mitter’s history of the Sino-Japanese War is not only a very important book, but it also has a wonderful clarity of thought and prose which makes it a pleasure to read.” — Antony Beevor, author of The Second World War and Stalingrad

“This is the best study of China’s war with Japan (1937–1945) written in any language. It is comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and objective . . . For anyone interested in how China helped shape today’s world, this is a must-read.” — Akira Iriye, Charles Warren Professor of History (emeritus), Harvard University

About the Author:

RANA MITTER is a professor of modern Chinese history at the University of Oxford and the author of several books including A Bitter Revolution. He is a regular contributor to British television and radio. His writing has appeared in the Financial Times, the Guardian, and elsewhere.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 061889425X
• ISBN 13: 9780618894253
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 464