Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China He Lost - Hardcover

Fenby, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743231449 ISBN 13: 9780743231442

Publisher: Free Press, 2003

Synopsis

Following his acclaimed studies of the state of modern France and how Hong Kong has changed since the 1997 handover, Jonathan Fenby now turns his attention to one of the most interesting yet under-reported figures of twentieth-century history. Chiang Kai-shek was the man who lost China to the Communists. As leader of the nationalist movement, the Kuomintang, Chiang established himself as head of the government in Nanking in 1928. Yet although he laid claim to power throughout the 1930s and was the only Chinese figure of sufficient stature to attend a conference with Churchill and Roosevelt during the Second World War, his desire for unity was always thwarted by threats on two fronts. Between them, the Japanese and the Communists succeeded in undermining Chiang's power-plays, and after Hiroshima it was Mao Zedong who ended up victorious. Brilliantly re-creating pre-Communist China in all its colour, danger and complexity, Jonathan Fenby's magisterial survey of this brave but unfulfilled life is destined to become the definitive account in the English language.

About this title

Review:

'A fast-paced, fair-minded account of a complex career ... Enriched by telling observations and engaging vignettes' -- LITERARY REVIEW

'A magisterial account of the brave and unfulfilled life of the man who lost China to Communism' -- HISTORY TODAY

'Fenby has a gripping story, and tells it with great verve and insight' -- SPECTATOR

'Highly readable ... It is an epic tale and Fenby tells it with panache' -- SUNDAY TIMES

'One of the merits of Fenby's book is its fair-mindedness ... [A] tragic story, well described' -- SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

‘Astute, unusually well-written . . . the author rises fully to placing the Generalissimo’s political career into long-term perspective’ -- WALL STREET JOURNAL

‘Excellent biography . . . highly readable . . . Mr Fenby gives full range to an amazing cast of grotesques’ -- The ECONOMIST

From the Back Cover:

Praise for ON THE BRINK:

'A wonderful and moving book. I’ve learned so much from it'
JAN MORRIS

'A fascinating account of modern France, a mixture of history, geography, social analysis and vivid journalism'
ROY JENKINS

'Fenby brings an inexhaustible curiosity and gift for telling detail to an already fascinating subject. A superb book'
BILL BRYSON

'By the end of ON THE BRINK one has been wonderfully entertained ... A witty and engaging confession of love–hate for a complex country'
ALAIN DE BOTTON

About this edition

• Publisher: Free Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0743231449
• ISBN 13: 9780743231442
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 592