The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China

Chiang Kai-Shek (also Jiang Jieshi) was one of the most polarising Chinese figures of the twentieth century, equally celebrated as the victor over the Japanese and reviled as the man who lost the Mainland to the Communists after defeat in the Chinese Civil War.

Taylor's new, revisionary biography attempts to rehabilitate the man behind the superlatives and portray Chiang as a more nuanced and humanised figure: for example in discussing his conversion to Christianity after his marriage to Soong Mayling (Song Meiling). Drawing on numerous newly-available Chinese sources from the National Archives in Taiwan including Chiang's personal diaries, Taylor provides a much more detailed and personal biography of Chiang.

Of particular note is the show more post-war history that Taylor narrates: the founding of a modern, renewed Republic of China on Taiwan, the intricacies of Cold War politics and how deeply betrayed Chiang and those on Taiwan felt as America, particularly, recognised the PRC in lieu of the ROC.

Unlike previous biographies that categorically castigate Chiang for losing China owing to his own ineptitude, Taylor's biography takes a long view of history and proposes that the modern society and economy on Taiwan that arose as a result of both Chiang Kai-Shek and his son, Chiang Ching-kuo's rule as more in line with Sun Yat-sen's vision of China as opposed to the Communist rule on the Mainland.

This biography is a welcome addition to scholarship on Modern Chinese history and politics, and a welcome change, too, to the scholarly treatment of Chiang himself. A better knowledge not only of China's twentieth-century history but also of its future is given on reading this. show less

The author works hard to show that Chiang's personal honor, almost ascetic life and cunning intelligence absolve him from the horrors of leading civil war. At least, Chiang did not kill a whole social class or wreck an almost functioning economy (as Mao did.) But he copied Mao in his security apparatus and seems to have confused China with Chiang for a long part of his life. No heroes in this book.

Excellent history of China through the long life of Chiang Kai-Shek. Explains in detail, the complexity of Taiwan (Republic of China) with it's freedom vs the mainland People's Republic of China with it's history of communism, the center of which has always been Russia.

Well-written and informative. I really like the interesting narration of the japanese invasion of china and the civil war, including the negotiations between Zhou Enlai and Chang Kai-shek. The diplomatic maneuverings especially at the United Nations were also covered adequately. I would recommend this book to anyone interested on the subject.

See the strong critiques of this book in Steve Tsang’s review article.