RANA MITTER is a professor of modern Chinese history at the University of Oxford and the author of several books including A Bitter Revolution. He is a regular contributor to British television and radio. His writing has appeared in the Financial Times, the Guardian, and elsewhere.
"Rana Mitter's brilliant new book, Forgotten Ally: China's War with
Japan, 1937-1945, makes an important and moving contribution to the
historical record by illuminating the largely forgotten war that
took the lives of millions of Chinese, yet ultimately facilitated
the rise of modern China." -- Dr. Henry A. Kissinger "Superb." --
New York Times Book Review "Important and compelling . . . Closely
examin[es] Beijing's role in the Allied war effort, the heavy and
often thankless price paid by the Chinese in their fight against
Japan, and the impact of China's wartime traumas on the country's
postwar development. . . . Fascinating." -- Wall Street Journal
"Powerful . . . Mitter excels . . . in placing China's wartime
experience in a robustly international framework. . . . General
readers curious to learn more about Chinese history should welcome
any new book by Mitter." -- Daily Beast "Rana Mitter's history of
the Sino-Japanese War . . . is a major contribution to the one
aspect of the Second World War of which we know far too little, and
should know much more if we are to understand the new superpower
today. It is a model of clarity and good writing." -- Antony
Beevor, Times (UK) "Restor[es] a vital part of the wartime
narrative to its rightful place. . . . A remarkable story, told
with humanity and intelligence; all historians of the second world
war will be in Mitter's debt. . . . No one could ask for a better
guide." - Richard Overy, Guardian (London) "The best narrative of
that long-ago war, whose effects still linger in China today." -
Jonathan Mirsky, The Spectator (London) "Illuminating and
meticulously researched. . . . It is the voice of the Chinese [. .
.] that gives the distinctive tone to Mitter's narrative. From the
diaries of Chiang Kai-shek to those of national journalists and
middle-class Chinese fleeing the conflict, these first-person
observations are woven skillfully into his chronicle of the battles
and struggles." -The Economist "Forgotten Ally is a breathtaking
chronicle of China's war with Japan from 1937 to 1945, a major
theater of World War II whose story most Western readers have never
heard in full -- certainly not as Mitter interprets it here.
Authoritative and epic, pulsing with life, this is a grand vision
of China's transformation through the cataclysm of war in the
twentieth century." -- Stephen R. Platt, author of Autumn in the
Heavenly Kingdom "Gripping...He shows that...the east Asian
conflict shaped both the outcomes of the second world war and the
development of the postwar world." - The Observer "An important,
timely contribution to shedding light where there is currently much
darkness... Mitter 's book demonstrates why to this day the Chinese
view Japan with such animosity." -- The Financial Times "Mitter has
done an important service both in pulling together the complex
narrative threads of this period and in reminding readers of
China's vital and largely neglected contribution to the Allied war
effort... Mitter's excellent history tells us why we need to
remember it." -- The New Statesman "Rana Mitter has written a
masterly account of the war, which blends wide deep scholarship
with an accessible narrative...Mitter's great achievement is to
have encompassed a multi-faceted story in a readable, coherent and
gripping manner" - Jonathan Fenby, The Times "This monumental new
work by Oxford University professor Rana Mitter magisterially
surveys this conflict, the broader repercussions of which still
resonate across East Asia." -- South China Morning Post "For
decades, argues Rana Mitter in his superb new book, western readers
have known too little about China's suffering....Mitter offers a
lucid and moving account of the conflict's staggering military
tragedies. But it is also a first-rate political and social history
if China's wartime years....Mitter's elegant, rigorous and balanced
account is an ideal guide to traumas that continue to cast a long
shadow over the region." -- TheTelegraph "This gripping political
history not only provides a detailed scholarly account of the
Sino-Japanese War but also, in a prologue, offers an admirably
succinct introduction to the political history of China in the
first half of the twentieth century . . . A story of heroic and
determined resistance . . . enlivened by extracts from the writing
of Chinese people who endured the war." -- Delia Davin, Observer
(UK) "A masterly account . . . Blends wide, deep scholarship with
an accessible narrative that includes an admirable focus on [the
war's] effects on ordinary people . . . Mitter's great achievement
is to have encompassed a multi-faceted story in a readable,
coherent, and gripping manner that should rescue this horrific
conflict from the neglect it has suffered in the West and explain
why history lives on in East Asia." -- Jonathan Fenby, Times
(UK)"Mitter's narrative élan, in the manner of David McCullough,
creates a complex history that is urgently alive. An important,
well-told tale of China at war." -- Kirkus"An important and
compelling history of China's World War II experience...Mr.
Mitter's book gives China its historical due." -- The Wall Street
Journal"Mitter gathers a generation of research and debate to weave
new insights into a sweeping panorama...This is cutting-edge
history, and there's scarcely a dull page. Highly recommended." --
Library Journal, starred"This is the best study of China's war with
Japan (1937-1945) written in any language. It is comprehensive,
thoroughly researched, and objective. For anyone interested in how
China helped shape today's world, this is a must-read." -- Akira
Iriye, Charles Warren Professor of History (emeritus), Harvard
University
"Forgotten Ally...deserves to be read by anyone interested in
China, World War II and the future of China's relations with the
rest of the world...Mitter masterfully constructs these
interlocking stories of battles, famines, massacres, diplomacy and
intrigue...Excellent book."-- Washington Post "[Mitter] writes with
rare objectivity on subjects that remain controversial today, and
his illustrations are both poignant and pertinent...Forgotten Ally
is must reading for anyone seeking a full perspective on the
Pacific war."-- The Washington Times "Mitter applies historical
empathy to yield fresh insights into the situations of all the
actors in the horrific conflict that the Chinese call the War of
Resistance Against Japan." -- Foreign Affairs
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