Forgotten Ally

China's World War II, 1937–1945

Rana Mitter

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9780547840567
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Chinese History
• Index: History

A history of the Chinese experience in WWII, named a Book of the Year by both the Economist and the Financial Times: "Superb" ( The New York Times Book Review ). In 1937, two years before Hitler invaded Poland, Chinese troops clashed with Japanese occupiers in the first battle of World War II. Joining with the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain, China became the fourth great ally in a devastating struggle for its very survival. In this book, prize-winning historian Rana Mitter unfurls China's drama of invasion, resistance, slaughter, and political intrigue as never before. Based on groundbreaking research, this gripping narrative focuses on a handful of unforgettable characters, including Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, and Chiang's American chief of staff, "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell—and also recounts the sacrifice and resilience of everyday Chinese people through the horrors of bombings, famines, and the infamous Rape of Nanking. More than any other twentieth-century event, World War II was crucial in shaping China's worldview, making Forgotten Ally both a definitive work of history and an indispensable guide to today's China and its relationship with the West.

Refugees stream across the Garden Bridge, Shanghai, August 18, 1937. Just six weeks previously, war had broken out suddenly in North China.

Chiang Kai-shek, thrust into the role of war leader, broadcasting in 1937.

Refugees on Shanghai’s Bund, 1937. Even neutral zones in the city were flooded with Chinese desperate to escape the Japanese invasion.

Retreating Chinese troops set fires in Nanjing, December 1937. The Chinese capital would soon be the scene of a horrific massacre

General Matsui Iwane at his headquarters, Shanghai, 1938. Just a few months earlier, Matsui had allowed his troops to kill and rape at will in occupied Nanjing.

Dai Li, the Nationalist security chief, working with special police forces. Dai Li intended his agency to be Chiang Kai-shek’s “eyes and ears.”

Kang Sheng, security chief and mastermind of terror in Mao’s Communist base area in northwest China.

Zhou Fohai. The senior Nationalist minister was intimately involved with Wang Jingwei’s defection and collaboration with the Japanese in 1938.

Li Shiqun, Wang Jingwei’s vicious security chief, whose reign of terror operated from Shanghai’s “Badlands.”

The Battle of Taierzhuang, April 1938. This rare Chinese victory boosted spirits in the face of the Japanese assault.

Japanese troops using a boat during the Yellow River floods, July 1938. Chiang’s decision to break the river dikes temporarily stopped the Japanese but took numerous lives.

Mao Zedong speaks at the Lu Xun Arts Institute in Yan’an, May 1938. During the early war years, the Communists sought to widen their sources of support.

Civilians in Guangzhou (Canton) take flight, June 1938. Air raids were a constant danger in Nationalist China in the early war years.

Chiang Kai-shek at a Supreme War Council meeting in Wuhan, July 1938. Chiang was faced with an immensely difficult decision on whether to abandon the city to the Japanese.

Wang Jingwei (right) with colleague Chu Minyi in Nanjing before Wang’s inauguration, 1940. Wang set up a rival Nationalist government in collaboration with the Japanese.

Homeless people in the aftermath of air raids, Chongqing, 1939. On May 3 and 4 the city suffered a wave of devastating attacks by Japanese bombers, highlighting its vulnerability.

A cartoon depicti...