Article: A Chinese enigma; Chiang Kai-shek.("Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China He Lost")(Book Review)

IT WOULD be easy to write off Chiang Kai-shek as one of history's greatestlosers--a man who fought his way to the top of a heap of appalling warlords, only to surrender half of China to the Japanese in 1937-38 and the rest to the Communists a decade later. Easy, and more or less accurate. But this excellent biography by Jonathan Fenby, a former correspondent for this newspaper, does sterling service inits reminder of the dreadful constraintsunder which Chiang operated, and of his successes as well as his failures.

Among the successes there is the period known as the Nanking Republic, from 1927 to 1937, when Chiang ruled most of China (apart from Manchuria) in ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!