Post by MarioForgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945, by Oxford
historian Rana Mitter,
http://www.psmag.com/navigation/politics-and-law/china-lost-14-million-people-world-war-ii-forgotten-66482/
Forgotten Ally is the US title; the title in the UK and elsewhere is
China's War with Japan, 1937-1945.
I finished reading this on March 12th. Overall, I would recommend it to
anyone interested in the war in China as well as anyone interested in
the overall history of World War II. As with many other aspects of the
war, the past twenty years has seen a substantive opening of archives
and greater acceptance of memoirs not in accord with the official history.
The strength of the book is in the early years. Mitter does well at
establishing the Nationalists, tracing the late 19th and early 20th
century history of China. He provides enough of the Japanese side to
suggest motivations and the particular power politics that encouraged
the war. There's good coverage of Soviet support of the Nationalists and
the comparative neglect of the CCP and the reasons for that. It's my
impression that a bit more focus on the CCP-Nationalist struggle would
be appropriate, though I understand the need to de-emphasize the CCP
compared to the commonly accepted mainland history of the struggle.
Once the war breaks out, there's a good balance between an overview of
the military action and the issues surrounding it, such as obtaining
revenue, managing the various factions, and managing the natural
disaster that is any war. I was particularly appreciative of Mitter's
attention to Wang Jingwei, his growing frustration with the central
government and the eventual formation of his Nanjing government.
The main weakness in the book is the treatment of the war in China
following the general outbreak and specifically Pearl Harbor. While the
nature and pace of the war in China changed at that point, there's
really very little discussion of actual military action or of the
Japanese approach to the war in China. Most attention is focused on
relations with outside powers. In particular, the Stilwell-Chiang
relationship comes to dominate. This was important and had distinct
consequences for US relations with the Nationalist government for a
generation. But it's hardly the only important thing. The Ichi-go
operation is neglected. We learn nothing of why it was launched and why
it was fought as it was.
Still, I'm glad to have read this and recommend it to the group.