Forgotten Ally
Chinas World War II, 19371945

The epic, untold story of Chinas 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 full 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 Chinas 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 Chiangs American chief of staff, the unforgettable Vinegar Joe Stilwell, and such horrific events as the Rape of Nanking and the bombing of Chinas wartime capital, Chongqing. Throughout,Forgotten Allyshows how the Chinese people played an essential role in the wider war effort, at great political and personal sacrifice. Forgotten Allyrewrites 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 Chinas worldview, and no one can understand China, and its relationship with America today, without this definitive work.