China at War: Triumph and Tragedy in the Emergence of the New China

by Hans van de Ven

China's mid-twentieth-century wars pose extraordinary interpretive challenges. The issue is not just that the Chinese fought for such a long time--from the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of July 1937 until the close of the Korean War in 1953--across such vast territory. As Hans van de Ven explains, the greatest puzzles lie in understanding China's simultaneous external and internal wars. Much is at stake, politically, in how this story is told.

Today in its official history and public commemorations, the People's Republic asserts Chinese unity against Japan during World War II. But this overwrites the era's stark divisions between Communists and Nationalists, increasingly erasing the civil war from memory. Van de Ven argues that the war with Japan, the civil war, and its aftermath were in fact of a piece--a singular process of conflict and political change. Reintegrating the Communist uprising with the Sino-Japanese War, he shows how the Communists took advantage of wartime to increase their appeal, how fissures between the Nationalists and Communists affected anti-Japanese resistance, and how the fractious coalition fostered conditions for revolution.

In the process, the Chinese invented an influential paradigm of war, wherein the Clausewitzian model of total war between well-defined interstate enemies gave way to murky campaigns of national liberation involving diverse domestic and outside belligerents. This history disappears when the realities of China's mid-century conflicts are stripped from public view. China at War recovers them.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, War, World War II, Military History, Politics

368 pages, Hardcover

First published August 24, 2017

About the author

Johan 'Hans' van de Ven is an authority on the history of 19th and 20th century China. He holds several positions at the University of Cambridge, where he is Professor of Modern Chinese History, Director in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at St Catharine's College and previously served as Chair of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. He studied sinology at Leiden University. Then, after studying with Susan Naquin at the University of Pennsylvania for a period of time, he moved to Harvard University, where he studied modern Chinese history under Philip Kuhn and received his PhD.

Van de Ven has particularly focused on the history of the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese warfare, the Chinese Maritime Customs Service and the history of globalization in modern China.

Van de Ven is a guest professor at the History Department of Nanjing University and was an International Fellow at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, China, in 2005–06. In 2019, he was appointed as an honorary visiting professor at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Peking University.

He was awarded the Philip Lilienthal Prize of the University of California Press for best first book in Asian Studies for his book on the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1991 and the Society for Military History 2012 Book Prize for non-US work for the book The Battle for China, which he edited along with Mark Peattie and Edward Drea.

Van de Ven is married to Susan Kerr. They have three sons—Johan, Derek and Willem. His wife's father was the late Malcolm H. Kerr, political scientist and President of the American University of Beirut, who was assassinated in January 1984. She wrote a book about her family's quest for truth and justice. Van de Ven is the brother-in-law of Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors, former Arizona Wildcats and Chicago Bulls player.

Reviews

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

an excellent, very readable overview of an important period in China's history

[Zulu Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book covering China's war years and probably the best book on any portion of 20th century Chinese history that I've read in a few years now. Although China at War approaches things from a military angle and goes a little deeper into the nitty gritty of some key military campaigns, it is emphatically NOT intended for readers with an exclusive interest in military tactics and technology - general history readers will not be bored. That being said, this book is also probably not a suitable introduction to this period of Chinese history for readers with absolutely no prior background either. For the rest of us, this is a surprisingly thoughtful and novel account of China in both its war of national liberation against the Japanese as well as it's civil war (I say "surprisingly" because I was expecting a more hard-nosed and descriptive history strictly focused on the military campaigns of this period, I was pleasantly surprised to find this book offers much more than that, including some excellent analysis and a willingness to entertain counterfactuals).

I do have a few small quibbles, such as 1.) that the author states there were three major Communist campaigns against the Nationalists which together proved decisive - but then proceeds to only discuss one of them or 2) that the author spends a fairly significant amount of time establishing the pre-1937 context of China but barely mentions - let alone analyzes - the Nationalist liquidation of their Communist allies in 1927.

But that aside, for anyone with an interest in and some knowledge of this period of Chinese history, this book should prove to be highly engaging. Published in 2017 and already cited in a few other monographs, China at War is quickly proving itself to be essential reading on the subject.

[hazal deniz]

I wanted to read about Chinese history to answer this question: "How did the communist come into power in a country with such a large population?" My question arose from 21st century pessimism that a grassroots revolution can never occur. I think I found an answer I wasn't looking for in this book: van de Ten argues that the Operation Ichi-Go inflicted so much damage to the Nationalist military that they couldn't muster up strength against the Communist advances later in the Civil War, especially against their brutal sieges starting in Northern China. What I was looking for was a political or ideological story about the spread of communism, instead I got a militaristic one. Maybe that truly is the answer.

I thought the narration was nice, but sometimes the chronology confused me. I thought the book was a pretty good entry into Chinese history. It is pretty short, so I was left wanting more details in many chapters. Especially the end of the Civil War and the Korean War felt rushed, and there was very little descriptions about the initial stages of the Nationalist government in Taiwan and the Communist government in mainland China after the end of the war. But I don't think I would have picked up a 600 page book in the first place.

[Joseph L. Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic narration of the quest for power amongst the Nationalists, the Communists, and the Japanese. Ultimately this book was a success for me because it underlined just how terrible every single actor was in these wars.

The total ruthlessness applied by leaders that resulted in such massive quantities of human sacrifice really boggles the mind - the endless hypocrisy of claiming to build something better while often employing strategies knowing they would lead to absolute disaster and/or continued suffering.

It is exactly from this disgust that I find this book such a success, because it outlines the total horror and disaster that is war. A good lesson to those who think too little of peace, especially in east Asia.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provided a reliable read of the history of the wars affecting China during the downfall of the Nationalists and rise of the Communists. This included the war with Japan.

[Stella Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent introduction to this topic, especially for people totally ignorant, but extremely biased from a Western viewpoint, which is apparent especially in the later chapters. Section on Korean War particularly was weak.

For a better history of the Chinese Civil War I recommend Odd Arne Westad- Decisive Encounters: The Chinese Civil War, 1946-1950, and of the Korean War Bruce Cummings - The Korean War: A History

[Dan Hillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really impressed by this book. I'm using it to help support my IB history course and it provides excellent analysis of the Chinese Civil War. I really enjoyed the information relating to Clausewitz's On War and the impact on Chinese warfare.

[Jason Zhou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the second book I read about China history. Before this book, I read only the official versions of history. Something are always not right as I could felt details were missing. This book has filled all the gaps.

[Chyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

基本上算是从北伐、抗战、内战到韩战的近代中国战争通史，但重点并非战斗的进退演变，而是战争状态下中国的芸芸众生。既能看到蒋介石如何苦撑待变、擘画外交以争取胜利和国际利益，共产党如何厉兵秣马、整肃内部以蓄势夺权，也能看到普通人（如齐邦媛、陈克文）的挣扎求生、悲欢离合。笔调客观，叙事清晰，资料丰富，虽然是通俗读物，但保持了一贯的学术水准。

[Stanoxie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must-read to foreign students who are majored in contemporary Chinese history. But for local Chinese, there are far more readable and informative materials than this one.

[Zk · Rating 3 out of 5]

作为历史著作太浅了，基本上仅仅是叙述史实，没有分析，中间夹杂个人的视角（仅仅只有两个人）太缺少代表性，显得突兀而偏题。

[lebaishi · Rating 5 out of 5]

这本书对战场细节和军事行动过程的陈述很少，对当时的政治斡旋，社会状况叙述很多，无疑是一本好书。其中提到抗战后期，在东南亚战场中中美英之间关于军事部署和行动的斡旋印象深刻。内战时期长春沈阳的围城战术也是很残忍。值得一读

[Jacky Zhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

抗战时期，中国是日俄冲突的牺牲品，内战又是美苏抗衡的牺牲品，朝鲜战争也是斯大林拱火，毛子真TM坏透了。
农民帮党打天下，但党却待农民最差
陳寅恪回覆擔任郭沫若領導下的中國科學院歷史研究所所長的邀請時，附帶一項要求，要歷史所不奉馬克思主義教條及免於召開政治學習會議，並堅持要有毛澤東親簽對此保證的書信才肯接受
第八章 调整共产主义：接下來幾年，毛澤東先是在湘西的井岡山（此处错误，应是湘东，英版原文West也是错的）。
整個中國都在非左必右的政治漩渦中，連鴕鳥埋頭的沙坑都找不到了