Chiang Kai-Shek: An Unauthorized Biography

by Emily Hahn

An in-depth biography of the towering 20th-century Chinese military and political figure who led the government, first on the mainland and then in exile in Taiwan, from the acclaimed New Yorker correspondent who lived in China when he was head of state In 1911, 24-year-old Chiang Kai-shek was an obscure Chinese student completing his military training in Japan, the only country in the Far East with a modern army. By 1928, the soldier who no one believed would ever amount to anything had achieved world fame as the leader who broke with Russia and released the newly formed Republic of China from Communist control.   Emily Hahn’s eye-opening book examines Chiang’s friendship with revolutionary Sun Yat-sen and chronicles his marriage to the glamorous, American-educated Soong May-ling, who converted him to Christianity and helped him enact social reforms. As the leader of the Nationalist Party, Chiang led China for over two from 1927 through the Japanese invasion, World War II, and the civil war that ended with a Communist victory in 1949. After defeat, he retreated with his government to Taiwan where he continued to lead as president of the exiled Republic of China until his death in 1975. Famous for forging a new nation out of the chaos of warlordism, he was an Allied leader during the Second World War, only to end up scorned as an unenlightened dictator at the end of his life. Casting a critical eye on Sino-American relations, Hahn sheds new light on this complex leader who was one of the most important global political figures of the last century.  

Genres: History, Biography, Asia, Nonfiction

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Emily "Mickey" Hahn was called "a forgotten American literary treasure" by The New Yorker magazine; she was the author of 52 books and more than 180 articles and stories. Her father was a hardware salesman and her mother a suffragette. She and her siblings were brought up to be independent and to think for themselves and she became the first woman to take a degree in mining engineering from the University of Wisconsin. She went on to study mineralogy at Columbia and anthropology at Oxford, working in between as an oil geologist, a teacher and a guide in New Mexico before she arrived in New York where she took up writing seriously. In 1935 she traveled to China for a short visit and ended up by staying nine years in the Far East. She loved living in Shanghai and met both Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai. She became the lover of Zau Sinmay, an intellectual, whom she particularly liked for his overwhelming curiosity about everything, she felt it rubbed off on her, and together they founded the English-language magazine Candid Comment. During her time in China she learned to smoke opium, persisting for two years until, inevitably, she became addicted; she was then cured by a hypnotist.

In Hong Kong Hahn met Major Charles R. Boxer, a married British intelligence officer; in 1940 she became pregnant and they had a daughter, Carola. Boxer was captured by the Japanese after being wounded in the attack on Hong Kong; Hahn visited him as much as possible in his prisoner-of-war camp, until she and Carola were repatriated to the United States in 1943. On his release they got married and in 1946 they arrived in Dorset where she called herself a "bad housewife". Although Boxer continued to live in England, where he became Professor of Portuguese at London University, Hahn lived mostly in America as a tax exile.

Reviews

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unauthorised account of the Nationalist leader of China from his early days to his retreat to Taiwan.

A fascinating account by someone who lived in China during part of this period. Emily Hahn, a correspondent for the New Yorker, arrived in Shanghai in 1935 and wound up staying in China until 1943 and is a fascinating character herself.
She broke all of the rules of the time by traveling the country dressed as a boy, working for the Red Cross in Belgium, being the concubine to a Shanghai poet, using opium, and having a child out of wedlock.

The book itself is written in a very readable style , but it will help if you know some of the historical background. It comprehensively covers his life to the retreat to Taiwan and covers his formative years as well as personal life. My worry is how accurate these accounts are.

All in all a useful addition to the paucity of books on this major World War 2 leader who was fighting the Japanese 4 years before the Western allies.

[RJ Tinker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very biased accounting of the Generalissimo's life. It goes against the common feelings had in Taiwan today, as this book humanizes him and gives him many positive traits while downplaying his failures, or blaming them on outside forces.

Things to like:

-Many primary sources, journals/diaries, official correspondence, period newspapers.
-It was written shortly after (1954) the content all took place so we can see what some of the feelings were towards those events


Things not to like:

-Because of the age of the book many of the heinous things the Chiang did in Taiwan aren't mentioned in the book. I am a student of Taiwanese history and I was disappointed that his time in Taiwan only got a few pages at the end of the book. Though I shouldn't have been surprised at this considering what year the book was written.
- The author was either heavily self censoring herself or felt personal reasons to spin Chiang's story into something a little different than most contemporary sources say. She is apologetic for him and finds excuses for his failings and always takes a few lines periodically to explain why "from a western perspective" what he did might seem bad but....

Would I recommend this book?

It depends why you are reading it. It definitely provides a much more personal history of Chiang than you will find in most history books, taking personal correspondence and interviews from family friends. If your interest in Chiang then I say this might be a decent place to start, provided you collaborate it with other, more objective sources.

As a source of general history I don't think so. Although there is a great deal of information provided within the book, it doesn't read exactly like a history book in my opinion. Too much speculation and explanation by the author as to why decisions were made.

Overall?

It wasn't a bad book on the subject, but it wasn't particularly good either.

[Trevor Harty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less of an in-depth look at Chiang Kai-Shek than a historical overview of how China fell out of his hands, ending abruptly in 1950.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well researched and thorough, but also a very personal account of Chiang Kai-Shek, I found this biography ultimately unconvincing, not least because it was written in the 1950s and I imagine much more has been discovered about him since then and new light will have been shed on his life and career. Still worth reading, however , not least as an introduction to New Yorker writer Emily Hahn.

[Harold Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

A window into a part of China's past that most Americans aren't very familiar with. A good read!