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Start giftingForgotten Ally
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 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 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.
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 television and radio in Britain and around the world. His writing has appeared in the Financial Times, the Guardian, and elsewhere.
Simon Vance is the critically acclaimed narrator of approximately 400 audiobooks, winner of 27 AudioFile Earphones Awards, and a 12-time Audie Award-winner. He won an Audie in 2006 in the category of Science Fiction and was named the 2011 Best Voice in Biography and History and in 2010 Best Voice in Fiction by AudioFile magazine.Ā
Ā Vance has been a narrator for the past 25 years, and also worked for many years as a BBC Radio presenter and newsreader in London.Ā Some of his best-selling and most praised audiobook performances include Stieg Larssonās The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hilary Mantelās Bring Up the Bodies (an Audie award-winner), Ian Flemingās Casino Royale, Oscar Wildeās The Picture of Dorian Gray, Patrick OāBrianās Master and Commander series (all 21 titles), the new productions of Frank Herbertās original Dune series, and Rob Giffordās China Road (an AudioFile 2007 Book of the Year). Vance lives near San Francisco with his wife and two sons.
Reviews
āRana Mitterās 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.ā
āIlluminating and meticulously researchedā¦From the diaries of Chiang Kai-shek to those of national journalists and middle-class Chinese fleeing the conflict, these first-person observations are woven skillfully into his chronicle of the battles and struggles.ā
āSuperb.ā
āAn important, timely contribution to shedding light where there is currently much darknessā¦Mitterās book demonstrates why to this day the Chinese view Japan with such animosity.ā
āA remarkable story, told with humanity and intelligence; all historians of the second world war will be in Mitterās debtā¦ No one could ask for a better guide.ā
āThe best narrative of that long-ago war, whose effects still linger in China today.ā
āMitter has done an important service both in pulling together the complex narrative threads of this period and in reminding readers of Chinaās vital and largely neglected contribution to the Allied war effortā¦Mitterās excellent history tells us why we need to remember it.ā
āMitterās narrative Ć©lan, in the manner of David McCullough, creates a complex history that is urgently alive. An important, well-told tale of China at war.ā
āThis is the best study of Chinaās war with Japan (1937ā1945) written in any language. It is comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and objectiveā¦For anyone interested in how China helped shape todayās world, this is a must-read.ā
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