China at War: Triumph and Tragedy in the Emergence of the New China

I found this book very informative. It showed in a diverse way the many factors leading up to WW2 & after, that lead to what is now the "People's Republic of China", and the "Republic of China". It also showed in a much less intricate way how this played into the Korea situation, Soviet interests at the time, and how it entwined with the United States foreign policy.An interesting book to read in conjunction with this is titled, "A Different Kind of War" by Vice Admiral Milton E Miles. He was United States Navy, whom had experience in China before WW2, during as a guerrilla warfare leader teamed with Chiang Kai-Shek's forces, and his intimate issues with the United States Army, OSS, & and United States diplomats. I had to purchase that book outside of Amazon, as it's out of print.

There have been many books on the war in China against the Japanese during World War II, and they invariably cover a three-pronged fight between the Communist Chinese under Mao, the Nationalist Chinese under Chiang, and the Japanese. There was, indeed, a war within a war. This book by de Ven is distinguished, first, by its close following of the contribution of Chiang Kai Shek’s Nationalist forces, and secondly, by following the personal experience of two Chinese – Chi Pang Yuan, who eventually wrote a memoir of her account of the war; and Chen Kewen, who kept a diary of the times. This book also made it plain that in spite of the Chinese civil war, they were able, at times disparately, and at times in arms together, to debilitate the Japanese war machine such that the Western allies were able to make gains elsewhere in the Pacific theatre of World War II. This book is filled with vignettes of individuals and events such as the death of Chiang’s General Zhang Zizhong – the highest ranking general to have been killed. Even the Japanese honoured his death. One other is the involvement of the American General Stilwell. Stilwell did not have much respect for the Chinese although he was impressed by the communists for their incorruptibility and discipline, he was contemptuous of Chiang; so much so that he was implicated by Senator McCarthy when the latter searched for American communists outside the USA. Another good book on this subject is Rana Mitter’s ‘China’s Good War’, 2020 Belknap Press.

If you care about modern Chinese history, you won't want to put this book down. Despite minor quibbles about some material in later chapters, this is an excellent, highly readable, historiographically up-to-date, fresh untangling of China's intertwined struggle against Japan (1937-45) and its (even lengthier) Nationalist-Communist civil war. The author succinctly introduces and analyzes key decisions, events and trends, frequently substantially revising judgments delivered by earlier historians. He is particularly good a periodizing these two struggles, noting, for instance, the effect of Japan's highly effective Ichigo campaign of 1944 in weakening Nationalist morale and territorial control, and the concomitant increase in Communist strength at this critical juncture. The autho relies heavily on the Chiang Kai-shek diaries (which only become available in the 2000s, over 25 years after Chiang's death), skillfully weaves in material from two Chinese memoirs of life the 1930s-40s, along with highly relevant journalistic accounts and other "cultural" material. It helps that the author is widely read and educated way beyond his commitment to Chinese studies. My quibbles with later chapters: (1) the author jumps from explaining early post-WWII Soviet antipathy toward Chinese Communist expansion plans in Manchuria to its later heavy material support for (i.e., provision of Soviet and captured Japanese weapons to the Chinese Communists there, without dealing with the reasons for the Soviet shift toward annoyance of and then disregard of the Nationalist government; (2) the author mistakenly asserts that, in early 1950, Kim Il-sung gained Mao's agreement to transfer back three Korean divisions from the People's Liberation Army (in support of Stalin's and Kim's decision for war), when other scholars have shown that this repatriation began a year earlier, with only smaller, remaining Korean units being repatriated in early 1950; and (3) the author asserts that "[China's involvement in the Korean war] worked out for Mao Zedong and his colleagues....[,]" failing to address the impact on China of its post-Korean war three-decade long estrangement with the U.S., and its lost chance to invade Taiwan in 1950. Some other material in the last chapter ("Transitions") is also a bit less considered and certain that the main body of this excellent book.

I went to Professor van de Ven's speech on March 26 at the Wilson Center and brought a "China at War" book there. This is my second time to buy it as a gift for my boss.In his speech, Professor van de Ven showed his talents of geopolitics and history very well. Throughout the discourse, he illustrated a map of Wartime China and a clear timeline along with the World War II. Just as he explained, it's a "zoom in and zoom out" technique.For me, it's a really good introducing skill and it will definitely help foreign readers to understand China in World War II. Here, I sincerely suggest my friends who're interested in China studies to buy Professor van de Ven's new book "China at War: Triumph and Tragedy in the Emergence of the New China".

The author's depth and breadth of knowledge and his obvious devotion to later Chinese history are clearly evident in this book. A lot is covered, and quite a few opinions and hypotheses offered, some perhaps - given the author's knowledge maybe not clearly supported and give the impression of 'superior opinion' rather than clearly supported argument. Given the breadth of the material covered- the rise of the KMT; its limitations; the enduring 'war' with the Communist; the Japanese;, 'patriotic' collaboration; the Allies; the Korean War and; the early Cold War, this is not surprising. The author's apparent fascination with epigraphs, Clausewitz and the Book of Deuteronomy and in the last chapter some philosophising do not necessarily make the reading of an already intense, perhaps pontificating style any easier. It is, however well worth the effort, a great deal of information and thought is contained in this book, and I doubt it will be the last of the author's books I read.