Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945

An Economist Book of the Year
A Financial Times Book of the Year

“A book that has long cried out to be written.” — Observer (UK), Books of the Year

In 1937, two years before Hitler invaded Poland, Chinese troops clashed with Japanese occupiers in the first battle of World War II. Joining with the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain, China became the fourth great ally in a devastating struggle for its very survival.

Prizewinning historian Rana Mitter unfurls China’s drama of invasion, resistance, slaughter, and political intrigue as never before. Based on groundbreaking research, this gripping narrative focuses on a handful of unforgettable characters, including Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, and Chiang’s American chief of staff, “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell. Mitter also recounts the sacrifice and resilience of everyday Chinese people through the horrors of bombings, famines, and the infamous Rape of Nanking.

More than any other twentieth-century event, World War II was crucial in shaping China’s worldview, making Forgotten Ally both a definitive work of history and an indispensable guide to today’s China and its relationship with the West.

“In the manner of David McCullough, [Mitter] creates a complex history that is urgently alive.” — Kirkus Reviews

• War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War
• The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern China
• The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China
• Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy
• Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan
• China's War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival
• Harp of Burma (Tuttle Classics)
• The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 (Modern Library War)
• Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II (Hill and Wang Critical Issues)
• Japan at War: An Oral History