The Battle for China

The Sino-Japanese War has inspired numerous specialized studies--some analyzing diplomatic relations, some addressing specific incidents, and still others documenting the rise of Communism in China. The war itself, however, has usually been presented from the perspective of the West. Departing from this tradition,The Battle for Chinabrings together Chinese, Japanese, and Western scholars of the first rank to provide a comprehensive and multifaceted overview of the military operations that shaped much of what happened in political, economic, and cultural realms. Given the volatility of the events covered and their disputed histories, the volume's diverse contributors have taken pains to sustain a scholarly, dispassionate tone throughout their analyses of the course and the nature of military operations, ranging from the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937 to the final campaigns of 1945. They present Western involvement in the war, but in Sino-Japanese contexts, and establish the war's place in World War II and world history in general.

Mark Peattie is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and visiting scholar at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. Edward Drea is former Chief of the Research and Analysis Division of the U.S. Army Center of Military History. Hans van de Ven is Professor of Modern Chinese History at Cambridge University.