V500 Edgar Snows China

by Lois Wheeler Snow and Edgar Snow

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394715004
• ISBN13: 9780394715001
• Release Date: March 1983
• Publisher: Vintage Books USA
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A chronicle of the reasons why Chiang lost and Mao won China

As the war in Iraq continues at a slower but still deadly pace, some people are calling it the greatest American foreign policy blunder ever. While I am in full agreement that invading Iraq was a very stupid thing to do, in my opinion, it is nowhere close to the greatest mistake ever made in American foreign policy. That dubious distinction must be given to the failure of American policy towards China at the end of the Second World War. Several American journalists and military people were well acquainted with the true situation in China. They knew how corrupt and incompetent the Kuomintang regime of Chiang Kai-shek was and the incredible poverty of the Chinese masses. In contrast, the Red Army under Mao Tse-tung was genuinely interested in the welfare of the Chinese peasants and it was clear to the Western observers that Mao and his cadres would ultimately rule China. American General Stilwell was stationed in China during the war and he was an expert on the country. He knew the language and the mindset of the warlords and he strongly pressed Chiang to make reforms. The Communist leadership thought so highly of Stilwell that they offered to put large segments of their military forces under American command. This caused consternation in the Chinese and American governments and Roosevelt recalled Stilwell. He was replaced by General Hurley, a man of biased opinions in favor of Chiang and naive about the situation. Once the United States tied itself to Chiang and the anti-communist hysteria arose with wide and ridiculous charges of "Who lost China?" the consequences were two decades of hostility and American involvement in two destructive wars on the Asian continent. Edgar Snow was a journalist who was a witness to all of this and understood the despair of China. He writes about the incredible poverty of the mass of the Chinese people, where slavery was rampant and parents openly offered their children for sale. People in many areas went naked for lack of clothing and death by starvation was common. The bodies of people who died of starvation often disappeared and human flesh was openly sold in many areas. The landlords and other supporters of the Chiang regime adopted a deliberate policy of cheap labor and speculation, ignoring the misery of the people. Containing many photos of the situation in China before the war, including a large number that feature Mao, Chou En-lai and Teng Hsiao-ping, this book demonstrates the miserable conditions that most of the Chinese people endured. Exploited as much as possible, they were ripe for revolt, a fact that Snow understood and chronicled. No one could read this book and not understand that.