Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945 (1 Viewer)

[Combat]

This is a very well-written and informative book about the conflict in China. I highly recommend it:

"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."

 

[theBaron]

Thanks for the reference! I've found the story of the war in China to be of great interest, ever since I started reading about it as a kid, as a background to the story of the Flying Tigers. I think you could make a case that not only is China a forgotten ally, but an abandoned ally, one we left in the lurch in the immediate post-war era, allowing the Communists to succeed in taking over that ancient land.

This is going on my wish list.

Prost!
Brad

 

[jazzeum]

It has been written about somewhat. I suppose I became interested in the topic because my wife is Chinese. One of her Uncles flew P40s against the Japanese in WW II.

Barbara Tuchman did a fairly good book about it years ago, called Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945.

There was also another very good book called The Soong Dynasty by Sterling Seagrave. The Soongs were the sisters who influenced 20th Chinese history. Madame Chiang was one of the Soongs. Another sister married Sun Yat Sen, the founder of modern China in the early 1900s and the third sister was married to H.H. Kung, Finance Minister under Chiang. This is a fascinating book and I strongly recommend it.

Brad

 

[ucla1967]

Coincidently, I recently ordered, on Amazon, Osprey's Men-at-Arms number 424 The Chinese Army, 1937-49, World War II and Civil War. My purpose was to research the various uniforms they wore so that I could commission Hiriart to make a toy soldier set for me and several other collectors. I was looking in particular for the uniforms worn by the Nationalist Chinese troops who were trained by the German Military Mission and who were considered to be among the best troops in the Nationalist Army. Their uniforms will include the German M35 stahlhelm with a white-on-blue sunburst on one side. I am going to have them made wearing a light blue uniform with puttees and blanket rolls rather than the more common khaki uniform worn by other troops. The set will be comprised of an officer, Nationalist flag, bugler, and six men.

This World War II Chinese set will be a part on my continuing effort to have sets made from some of the less well represented combatants. So far, I have commissioned and received Finnish infantry, Polish infantry, Polish lancers, Slovak infantry, and Hungarian infantry. I have placed future orders for Dutch infantry, Romanian infantry, Hungarian cavalry, and a Hungarian L3/35 Ansaldo tankette. I also have a set of the Spanish Blue (Azul) division which fought on the Eastern Front against the Soviets.

 

[lancer]

This is a very well-written and informative book about the conflict in China. I highly recommend it:

"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."

This looks like an interesting book on a relatively forgotten war. I have read the Tuchman book mentioned by Brad, and liked it, but it was a long time ago. I have read the Frank Dorn book, which I liked but it covered only the period from the Marco Polo bridge incident to Pearl Harbor, so a new overview will be most useful. My interest also was initially in regards to the AVG, but I have read some incident specific stuff on Nanking and Shanghai that has furthered my interest so I will put this new work on my list. -- Al