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London Review of Books

Would he have been better? subscriber-only content

John Gittings

  • Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China He Lost by Jonathan Fenby

Chiang Kai-shek celebrated his 50th birthday (by the Chinese way of counting) in October 1936. To mark the occasion, every schoolchild in the country – or in those parts not already occupied by the Japanese army – was instructed to contribute 15 cents, and every teacher one dollar, to help purchase fighter planes from the US. A new spirit of patriotism was stirring as Japan continued its creeping aggression in the north. Army recruits were given lectures on ‘The Coming Sino-Japanese War’ and ‘How to Make Sacrifices’.

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John Gittings first visited China during the Cultural Revolution and was the Guardian China specialist from 1983 to 2003. He is now a research associate at the Centre of Chinese Studies at SOAS.