chiang, kai-shek

A biography of the long-time Chinese political and military leader who established his government in Taiwan when the Communists took control of China in 1949.

The story of Soon May-ling, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's American-educated wife, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, is epic in scope. Along with her husband, she is the story of modern China, which started with a revolution that swept away more than 2,000 years of history, and was followed by World War II and the eventual loss of China to the Communists. Her role in China's recent history was as important as that of the husband she supported.

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, 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. --from publisher description.

Traces the events of the twenty-four year struggle for power between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Tse-tung and their influence on the destiny of China.