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The Generalissimo

Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China, With a New Postscript
By Jay Taylor
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Generalissimo traces the remarkable life of Chiang Kai-shek, a towering figure in 20th-century Chinese history. From leading China through revolutions, civil wars, and resistance against Japanese invasion, to his eventual retreat to Taiwan in 1949, the biography explores Chiang's complex legacy. It highlights his autocratic rule, efforts to modernise Taiwan, and enduring impact on Chinese and Taiwanese political landscapes.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This detailed and nuanced biography will appeal to readers interested in modern Chinese history, political biographies, and the intricacies of East Asian geopolitics.

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One of the most momentous stories of the last century is China’s rise from a self-satisfied, anti-modern, decaying society into a global power that promises to one day rival the United States. Chiang Kai-shek, an autocratic, larger-than-life figure, dominates this story.

The story of Chiang Kai-shek is so big, so interwoven with the story of modern China, and so complex, that it has defied a good biographical treatment. Now, Jay Taylor has provided us with a strong, vivid, and eminently readable biography of this major twentieth-century leader that captures his 'life and times' better than any previous work in English. -- William C. Kirby Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University This splendid biography far surpasses previous scholarship on Chiang Kai-shek, providing new insights into the savage international and civil wars in China that raged for almost thirty years as well as Chiang's quarter century on Taiwan where he laid the predicate for democratic governance on the besieged island. -- David Lampton, Hyman Professor and Director of China Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Following his masterful account The Generalissimo's Son, Taylor has fully tapped Chiang Kai-shek's personal diaries and a comprehensive range of sources to provide the most authoritative assessment of this towering figure in the Chinese revolution and global politics of the 20th century. -- Robert Sutter, Visiting Professor of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. Chiang Kai-shek rivaled Mao as a dominant figure in the history of modern China. Taylor has taken a fresh look at his long, eventful life based on new sources, and suggests a controversial but persuasive new reading of Chiang's motives and actions. This vividly realized account will be the authoritative work for a long time to come. -- Andrew J. Nathan, author of China's Transition

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

One of the most momentous stories of the last century is China's rise from a self-satisfied, anti-modern, decaying society into a global power that promises to one day rival the United States. Chiang Kai-shek, an autocratic, larger-than-life figure, dominates this story. A modernist as well as a neo-Confucianist, Chiang was a man of war who led the most ancient and populous country in the world through a quarter century of bloody revolutions, civil conflict, and wars of resistance against Japanese aggression.

In 1949, when he was defeated by Mao Zedong—his archrival for leadership of China—he fled to Taiwan, where he ruled for another twenty-five years. Playing a key role in the cold war with China, Chiang suppressed opposition with his "white terror," controlled inflation and corruption, carried out land reform, and raised personal income, health, and educational levels on the island. Consciously or not, he set the stage for Taiwan's evolution of a Chinese model of democratic modernization.

Drawing heavily on Chinese sources including Chiang's diaries, The Generalissimo provides the most lively, sweeping, and objective biography yet of a man whose length of uninterrupted, active engagement at the highest levels in the march of history is excelled by few, if any, in modern history. Jay Taylor shows a man who was exceedingly ruthless and temperamental but who was also courageous and conscientious in matters of state. Revealing fascinating aspects of Chiang's life, Taylor provides penetrating insight into the dynamics of the past that lie behind the struggle for modernity of mainland China and its relationship with Taiwan.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674060494

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 30 April 2011

Country: United States

Imprint: The Belknap Press

Edition: 2nd edition

Illustration: 41 halftones, 4 maps

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 38.0mm

Width: 162.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 962g

Pages: 752

Collections

Asian History Biography & Memoir Education & Reference History & Archaeology History & Military Jay Taylor Non-Fiction Political Biographies Politics & Current Affairs

About the Author

Jay Taylor is a Research Associate at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University.

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