Comments on: Why Do We Know so Little about China in World War Two?

By: T. Greer

T. Greer — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 10:11:54 +0000

Tuchman's analysis has not aged well. Better places to start: Forgotton Ally: China's World War II The Wars For Asia War and Nationalism in China, 1927-1945 Battle For China

By: Adar

Adar — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 07:17:41 +0000

Commie reporters in China at the time were making every effort to portray Mao and his boys as heroes and making every effort to make the Nationalists look bad. The latter did most of the fighting against the Japanese and did quite good in some instances. Wuhan was a major battle [pyrrhic Japanese victory] and Taizherzhwang, a Stalingrad in the east and a significant Nationalist victory.

By: Alrenous

Alrenous — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 04:05:11 +0000

A couple points.

Does China have a secondary source we could translate?

Does China have anyone fluent in English who studies history?

By: A Boy and His Dog

A Boy and His Dog — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 22:06:44 +0000

Iris Chang, who understood neither Chinese nor Japanese nor German, felt qualified to write The Rape of Nanking despite being unable to read the majority of primary sources. So apparently it's not a huge barrier to playing the expert.

By: Isegoria

Isegoria — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 18:44:22 +0000

They’re not my books, they’re Peter Harmsen’s, and I haven’t read them (yet). I hope that clears things up.

By: Noel

Noel — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 18:37:12 +0000

Having read Tuchman 30 years ago, guess that puts me ahead of the game. I’ll check out your books on Shanghai and Nanking.

By: Isegoria

Isegoria — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 18:29:26 +0000

The short answer is that Tuchman's Stilwell and the American Experience in China reminded me how little I knew about China in World War II. I gave a slightly longer answer while discussing America's Retreat from Victory.

By: Noel

Noel — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 17:24:54 +0000

Just curious, what do think about Tuchman's Stilwell and the American Experience in China?