Unsung Hero: China's Role in World War II, 1937-1945

Shiraj s.: A detailed account & detailed story

India on Apr 04, 2023

Julie Merilatt: It has been my goal to read more about WWII outside of the European theater, and this is probably the most comprehensive book about China’s role in the war. They endured years of onslaught from the Japanese long before western countries were involved. China was invaded and large swaths occupied and brutalized by Japan’s superior army starting in 1937. China didn’t fight offensively, but tried to defend when and where they could. Unfortunately, inadequate leadership was ineffective in so many aspects of governance and military management.

Before the war truly became international, there were more details about internal Chinese conflict than about fighting the Japanese. It was Nationalists versus Communists versus Collaborationists. On top of enemy air raids and assault, there was flooding and famine as a result of poor decision-making by Nationalist Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and skirmishes with Mao Zedong’s communist forces.

If you thought China was a hot mess prior to international involvement, it got even worse when the Allies tried to interfere. Yes, the Chinese government was corrupt and indecisive, and therefore the Allies viewed them as inferior and...

United States on Feb 15, 2023

Jason Walters: Well researched and well written. A very good text on important history that is so important but has been largely ignored by all but the most direct participants.

Australia on Nov 18, 2020

prodi12: Excellent book, I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the parts where the author used excerpts from private diaries of key figures such as Chiang Kai Shek and his confidants adds a very personal element into how they viewed the war situations individually. I'd say the author is pretty unbiased in this book and helps paint a picture from both the Nationalists, Communists and western powers' perspectives. Definitely get this book and give it a read if you want to learn more about this particular theatre, which is very often overlooked or very downplayed in Western education and media. The contributions made by the Chinese in their effort on refusing to surrender and resist for 8 painful years while lagging behind the Japanese in tech, training and economics greatly shaped the Asian theatre of WW2.

Canada on May 27, 2020

Clem: One of the reasons I loved this book so much is that I felt that I learned an awful lot. Although I’ve always considered myself fairly astute when it comes to the history of the second world war, reading this book reminds me that my knowledge of the subject has always been somewhat skewed to one side. I could tell you a lot about the European events, but not much about the Asiatic affairs; especially the conflict between Japan and China. I’m sure there are many in the same boat as I am. This is probably why the author, Rana Mitter, accurately uses the word “forgotten” in his title for this book.

This book is a very linear, easy to understand account of the events that led up to Japan’s invasion of neighbor China in 1937 which, one could argue, was when and where World War II actually started. We read of all of the major military and political events of the war in China up until the war's conclusion in 1945. We read this narrative from the eyes of the Chinese and, as good as the book is, it can be awfully sickening and depressing. Well….it is war.

There are a lot of Chinese names and places within these pages, and it can be quite easy to get lost while...

United States on Sep 22, 2019

J.O. Quantaman: The author focuses on the key players: the national leaders and military generals. He devotes less time on the ravished citizens, probably because the records of ordinary folks are sparse. Nonetheless, the narrative has opened my eyes. I hadn't realized how comprehensively the Western Allies left the Chinese to fend for itself against the Japanese invaders.

Canada on Oct 19, 2018

John P: Above all else, the Japanese invasion of China was a major tragedy for China. Millions of lives were affected, civilians and soldiers alike. The war deeply scarred China and effects East Asian geopolitics to this day.

Mitter, an Oxford historian tells the tale fairly and squarely through Chinese eyes. Mitter pulls no punches: Japan was the aggressor and China was the victim. He has no kind words either for the Western powers (UK and USA) who stood by while Japan ravaged the country.

Chang Kai Shek is portrayed as a leader who simply refused to surrender against insurmountable odds in a war he did not want to fight. Chiang made numerous tactical and humanitarian mistakes, but based on this account, Chiang should be lauded as a hero in China for saving the nation.

United Kingdom on Oct 02, 2015

H. Schneider: We need to keep challenging our perceptions of the world. That's the essence of science, even of history. Sometimes, history is rewritten when new material comes to light, when archives are opened. (At other times, it is rewritten when political power shifts.)

This book first retells the period up to the start of 'real' war between Japan and China. Japan's occupation of Manchuria doesn't even count as war, because China did not resist. The Chinese state and military were too weak to resist modern international forces. That was an heritage from Qing times, which the KMT hadn't been able to repair.

This war before WW2, between 37 and 41, is retold in part 2. The West stayed neutral like in Spain. Ironically, the only real help for CKS, the anti-communist, came from the Soviet Union, who didn't want a victorious and aggressive Japan on its eastern border. When war in Europe started in 39, and Russia had her temporary non aggression pact with Germany, help from Russia was lost to China. CKS hoped to pull in the US on his side, but progress was small and slow.

During this period, two major outrages happened: the Nanking massacre, when Japanese troops killed 300 000...

United States on Nov 29, 2013