Victorious in Defeat: The Life and Times of Chiang Kai-shek, China, 1887-1975

by Alexander V. Pantsov

Description

An extensively researched, comprehensive biography of Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, one of the twentieth century’s most powerful and controversial figures Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975) led the Republic of China for almost fifty years, starting in 1926. He was the architect of a new, republican China, a hero of the Second World War, and a faithful ally of the United States. Simultaneously a Christian and a Confucian, Chiang dreamed of universal equality yet was a perfidious show more and cunning dictator responsible for the deaths of over 1.5 million innocent people. This critical biography is based on Chiang Kai-shek’s unpublished diaries, his extensive personal files from the Russian archives, and the Russian files of his relatives, associates, and foes. Alexander V. Pantsov sheds new light on the role played by the Russians in Chiang’s rise to power in the 1920s and throughout his political career—and indeed the Russian influence on the Chinese revolutionary movement as a whole—as well as on Chiang’s complex relationship with top officials of the United States. It is a detailed portrait of a man who ranks with Stalin, Roosevelt, Hitler, Churchill, and Gandhi as leaders who shaped our world. show less

Recommendations

Zhou Enlai: A Life by Jian Chen

Zhou Enlai: A Life

Jian Chen

Never Turn Back: China and the Forbidden History of the 1980s by Julian Gewirtz

Never Turn Back: China and the Forbidden History of the 1980s

Julian Gewirtz

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

Jung Chang

Overreach: How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise by Susan L. Shirk

Overreach: How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise

Susan L. Shirk

Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng

Life and Death in Shanghai

Nien Cheng

China's Good War: How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalism by Rana Mitter

China's Good War: How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalism

Rana Mitter

Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions by Maurizio Isabella

Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions

Maurizio Isabella

Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962 by Frank Dikötter

Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962

Frank Dikötter

Brezhnev: The Making of a Statesman by Susanne Schattenberg

Brezhnev: The Making of a Statesman

Susanne Schattenberg

The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution, 1945-1957 by Frank Dikötter

The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution, 1945-1957

Frank Dikötter

Kennan: A Life between Worlds by Frank Costigliola

Kennan: A Life between Worlds

Frank Costigliola

The Last Embassy: The Dutch Mission of 1795 and the Forgotten History of Western Encounters with China by Tonio Andrade

The Last Embassy: The Dutch Mission of 1795 and the Forgotten History of Western Encounters with China

Tonio Andrade

The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe by Gábor Ágoston

The Last Muslim Conquest: The Ottoman Empire and Its Wars in Europe

Gábor Ágoston

From Rebel to Ruler: One Hundred Years of the Chinese Communist Party by Tony Saich

From Rebel to Ruler: One Hundred Years of the Chinese Communist Party

Tony Saich

Fire and Rain: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Wars in Southeast Asia by Carolyn Woods Eisenberg

Fire and Rain: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Wars in Southeast Asia

Carolyn Woods Eisenberg

China 1949: Year of Revolution by Graham Hutchings

China 1949: Year of Revolution

Graham Hutchings

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China by Jung Chang

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China

Jung Chang

Conquistadors and Aztecs: A History of the Fall of Tenochtitlan by Stefan Rinke

Conquistadors and Aztecs: A History of the Fall of Tenochtitlan

Stefan Rinke

The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution by Jonathan D. Spence

The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution

Jonathan D. Spence

Sparks: China's Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future by Ian Johnson

Sparks: China's Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future

Ian Johnson

Empire and Jihad: The Anglo-Arab Wars of 1870-1920 by Neil Faulkner

Empire and Jihad: The Anglo-Arab Wars of 1870-1920

Neil Faulkner

The Great Transformation: China's Road from Revolution to Reform by Odd Arne Westad

The Great Transformation: China's Road from Revolution to Reform

Odd Arne Westad

A History of the Muslim World: From Its Origins to the Dawn of Modernity by Michael A. Cook

A History of the Muslim World: From Its Origins to the Dawn of Modernity

Michael A. Cook

Deng Xiaoping: A Revolutionary Life by Alexander V. Pantsov

Deng Xiaoping: A Revolutionary Life

Alexander V. Pantsov

Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace by Alexander Mikaberidze

Kutuzov: A Life in War and Peace

Alexander Mikaberidze

Habsburgs on the Rio Grande: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Empire by Raymond Jonas

Habsburgs on the Rio Grande: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Empire

Raymond Jonas

We Are Your Soldiers: How Gamal Abdel Nasser Remade the Arab World by Alex Rowell

We Are Your Soldiers: How Gamal Abdel Nasser Remade the Arab World

Alex Rowell

The Soong Dynasty by Sterling Seagrave

The Soong Dynasty

Sterling Seagrave

Red Star Over China: The Classic Account of the Birth of Chinese Communism by Edgar Snow

Red Star Over China: The Classic Account of the Birth of Chinese Communism

Edgar Snow

Xi Jinping: Political Career, Governance, and Leadership, 1953-2018 by Alfred L. Chan

Xi Jinping: Political Career, Governance, and Leadership, 1953-2018

Alfred L. Chan

To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power by Sergey Radchenko

To Run the World: The Kremlin's Cold War Bid for Global Power

Sergey Radchenko

The War That Doesn't Say Its Name: The Unending Conflict in the Congo by Jason K. Stearns

The War That Doesn't Say Its Name: The Unending Conflict in the Congo

Jason K. Stearns

The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers by Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr.

The Origins of Victory: How Disruptive Military Innovation Determines the Fates of Great Powers

Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr.

The Gate to China: A New History of the People’s Republic & Hong Kong by Michael Sheridan

The Gate to China: A New History of the People’s Republic & Hong Kong

Michael Sheridan

The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia by Sheila Miyoshi Jager

The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia

Sheila Miyoshi Jager

The Killing Wind: A Chinese County's Descent into Madness during the Cultural Revolution by Hecheng Tan

The Killing Wind: A Chinese County's Descent into Madness during the Cultural Revolution

Hecheng Tan

Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China's Superpower Future by Chun Han Wong

Party of One: The Rise of Xi Jinping and China's Superpower Future

Chun Han Wong

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom by Simon Winchester

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom

Simon Winchester

God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan by Jonathan D. Spence

God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan

Jonathan D. Spence

Inca Apocalypse: The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World by R. Alan Covey

Inca Apocalypse: The Spanish Conquest and the Transformation of the Andean World

R. Alan Covey

China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower by Frank Dikötter

China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower

Frank Dikötter

German Blood, Slavic Soil: How Nazi Königsberg Became Soviet Kaliningrad (Battlegrounds: Cornell Studies in Military History) by Nicole Eaton

German Blood, Slavic Soil: How Nazi Königsberg Became Soviet Kaliningrad (Battlegrounds: Cornell Studies in Military History)

Nicole Eaton

The China Mission: George Marshall's Unfinished War, 1945-1947 by Daniel Kurtz-Phelan

The China Mission: George Marshall's Unfinished War, 1945-1947

Daniel Kurtz-Phelan

Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq by Melvyn P. Leffler

Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq

Melvyn P. Leffler

China: A New History by John King Fairbank

China: A New History

John King Fairbank

Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China He Lost by Jonathan Fenby

Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China He Lost

Jonathan Fenby

China and Japan: Facing History by Ezra F. Vogel

China and Japan: Facing History

Ezra F. Vogel

The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence

The Search for Modern China

Jonathan D. Spence

Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution by Helen Zia

Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution

Helen Zia

Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45 by Barbara Tuchman

Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45

Barbara Tuchman

Complete Recommendations

Member Reviews

Featured Recent Thumbs

All Ratings
2
No Rating

1 review

HistoryToday 282 reviews

This was chosen by Sheila Miyosh Jager, Professor of East Asian History at Oberlin College, Ohio and author of The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia (Belknap Press, 2023), as one of History Today’s Books of the Year 2023.

Find out why at HistoryToday.com.

Nov 24, 2023

Ratings

lstmercury

Feb 19, 2025

zhoud2005 113 reviews

Sep 24, 2023

All Reviews