China's Republic

Diana Lary is Professor of History, affiliated with Centre of Chinese Research, Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia. Her recent publications include, with Thomas Gottschang, Swallows and Settlers: The Great Migration from North China to Manchuria (2000) and, with Stephen MacKinnon, The Scars of War: The Impact of War on Chinese Society (2001).

• Introduction; 1. The decline of Empire, the dream of a Republic: 1890s–1911; 2. The early republic: chaos and creativity: 1912–28; 3. The Nanjing decade: a new beginning? 1928–37; 4. The resistance war: warfare and chaos: 1937–45; 5. Civil War: the most vicious conflict 1946–9; 6. More than survival: the Republic of Taiwan 1949-to the present; Conclusion.

'With Professor Lary's well-written text, Republican China has finally been given the treatment it deserves. She examines this historically rich and colorful period for its intrinsic value - and not just as an interregnum between the Qing dynasty and the founding of the People's Republic of China. The portraits of key personalities like Mme. Chiang Kaishek or General Li Zongren are keenly drawn and punctuate a fast-moving narrative of basic events and military history. As a result, Lary succeeds in bringing back to life for the student and specialist alike a balanced view of this complex era that does not overemphasize the rise of the Communists and collapse of the Guomindang.' Stephen R. Mackinnon, Arizona State University