China’s War With Japan, 1937–1945

Rana Mitter’s richly evidenced and thoroughly engrossing book is a significant contribution to the history of modern China. It is an excellent study which will be of great interest to China historians and general readers alike. For scholars beyond the China sphere, the book’s greatest contribution will no doubt lie in its reassessment of many long-held beliefs concerning China’s role in the Second World War. It allows the reader a full appreciation of the scale of China’s contribution to the Allied war effort, and of the enormous costs this incurred. It will also be vital reading for anyone who hopes to gain an understanding of the events that underpin today’s international tensions in East Asia. The book’s subtitle, ‘The Struggle for Survival’, is a reference to one of its key arguments: that the Chinese government’s main contribution to the Allied war effort was made through simply surviving. That survival forced the Japanese into a protracted conflict, limiting their chances of success elsewhere. While making this important point, Mitter achieves many associated aims, including finally putting to bed the old myth that the valiant and patriotic Chinese Communist Party did most of the fighting, while the corrupt and incompetent Nationalist Government retreated to Chongqing. Indeed, he shows readers exactly how that myth was manufactured

China · Communism · Government (linguistics · Limiting · Mythology · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Classics · Engineering · History · Law · Philosophy · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies