3 Review(s)

Chinese leaders once tried to suppress memories of their nations brutal experience during World War II. Now they celebrate the victorya key foundation of Chinas rising nationalism.For most of its history, the Peoples Republic of China limited public discussion of the war against Japan. It was an experience of victimizationand one that saw Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek fighting for the same goals. But now, as China grows more powerful, the meaning of the war is changing. Rana Mitter argues that Chinas reassessment of the World War II years is central to its newfound confidence abroad and to mounting nationalism at home.Chinas Good War begins with the academics who shepherded the once-taboo subject into wider discourse. Encouraged by reforms under Deng Xiaoping, they researched the Guomindang war effort, collaboration with the Japanese, and Chinas role in forming the post-1945 global order.