1st Edition

War and Nationalism in China: 1925-1945

By Hans van de Ven Copyright 2003
390 Pages
by Routledge

392 Pages
by Routledge

392 Pages
by Routledge

In 1937, the Nationalists under Chiang Kaishek were leading the Chinese war effort against Japan and were lauded in the West for their efforts to transform China into an independent and modern nation; yet this image was quickly tarnished. The Nationalists were soon denounced as militarily incompetent, corrupt, and antidemocratic and Chiang Kaishek, the same. In this book, van de Ven... Read more
Introduction 1. Stilwell Revisited 2. Raising the National Revolutionary Army 3. Cultures of Violence during the Northern Expedition 4. Nationalism and Military Reform during the Nanjing Decade 5. A Forward Policy in the North 6. The War of Resistance before Japan's Southern Advance 7. Wartime Mobilisation Conclusion

Biography

Hans J. van de Ven, educated at Leiden and Harvard universities, is a Reader in Chinese Studies at the University of Cambridge. He is also the author of the award-winning book From Friend to Comrade.

'War and Nationalism in China will stand as one of the single most important works to deal with war and its impact on modern China...This book should be read by all who are interested in the shaping of modern China or the history of World War II... This is military history at its most exciting and significant.' - Asian Affairs

'A remarkable and bold piece of scholarship.' - The China Quarterly

'Scholars wishing to challenge this revisionist history will need to match van de Ven's discovery and mastery of documentary sources, his meticulous attention to detail and his formidable capacity to draft hypotheses and draw conclusions on some of the most controversial issues of the day. This important book is a must for anyone who wants to understand not only what happened in wartime China but how the wartime record came to be remembered, and perhaps misremembered, for six decades, both inside and outside China.' - The China Journal

'Should be sent to every member and ex-member of the Politburo and the Central Military Commission in Beijing, their counterparts in Taipei, and those who make cross-Straits policy in Washington. It may terrify a few key men in each place enough to make them steer away from the inevitable catastrophe resulting from a war between the Mainland and Taiwan.' - Asian Wall Street Journal