I came across a reference to an anti-Kuomintang book called Fires of the Dragon: Politics, Murder, and the Kuomintang, by David E. Kaplan.
Has anyone read it – or even seen it for sale in Taiwan? Is it worth reading?
Can anyone recommend other books on the world’s richest political party?
I do have a copy of the out-of-print and hard-to-get Inside the League - a book about the World Anti-Communist League that casts the KMT in rather a bad light. I got it second hand and there is one page missing. You can borrow it if you swear on all the holy scriptures to give it back to me when you’ve finished.
[quote=“cranky laowai”]Has anyone read it – or even seen it for sale in Taiwan? Is it worth reading?
Can anyone recommend other books on the world’s richest political party?[/quote]
I read it (skimmed through it is more apt) several years ago. The book begins as a detective story, describing the murder of Henry Liu, a writer who owned a gift shop outside of San Francisco. From there the plot unfolds, describing how the KMT commissioned the execution, ostensibly to punish him for his writings and unfavorable portrayal of Chiang Ching Kuo.
The book does a very good job of documenting the labyrinthine manner in which the KMT ordered the military intelligence bureau of the ministry of defense to contract underworld killers of United Bamboo to carry out the assasination. That the assassination took place on American soil is what turned this into a near-international incident—though quickly patched up because the US State Department did not want it to fester.
I heard the author, David Kaplan, on a radio talk show when he has promoting the book, and was impressed by his grasp of the background and history of the KMT. Though the book did not sell very well, it still available on Amazon, and on can be found in many university libraries.
If you’re interested in the history of the KMT, you might also be interested in:
Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45, by Barbara W Tuchman (describes KMT corruption under Chiang Kai Shek)
China Shakes the World, by Jack Belden (same)
Taiwan at the Crossroads by Marc J Cohen (History of KMT on Taiwan)
Sterling Seagraves 2 books “Lords of the Rim” & "The Soong Dynasty also touch on the early years of the KMT.
I might suggest “The Biography of Jiang Jingguo.” It gives you a feel of the nepotistic inward corrupt culture of the KMT.
I’ve read the “Soong Dynasty” and I would way it is very good. I would suggest reading it after reading “Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45” which is fabulous. These 2 books illustrate perfectly why the KMT was ran out of China.
The problem is the very real issue of censorship. I either got all the above mentioned books outside Taiwan and only found “Soong Dynasty” 2nd hand in Taiwan.
If you want to read something that will give you a sense of deja vu. Read “Officialdom Unmasked” the similiarities between now and when the book was first published in 1903 are surreal. Highly entertaining for the independent thinking student of Chinese and Chinese culture. Buy the softcover though.
Just read a goodly tome: Shanghai 1842-1949: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City by the unfortunately named Stella Dong. A great primer on how Chiang gained power – not the thrust of the book but weaved throughout. From here there’s so many to choose from depending on whether you’re a Chinese reader or not.
Babara Tuchman’s STILWELL AND THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN CHINA, 1911-45, 1970 - Pulitzer Prize (s’cuse the caps) is a great read on how Chiang reined in the KMT troops and the ful gamut of US aid in readiness for the coming conflag with the commies. Very readable.
Then of course a quick trio to the 228 memorial in Taipei will add a substantial number of must reads…sure you can see my bias.
I do the like the idea of reading up on Chiang’s illegitmate lad Jiang Ching-kuo as posted by someonelse though.
HG
My understanding is that pre-1949 Republican China has been a hot topic for the past decade and that quite a bit of revision has been done to the old view that KMT corruption caused the collapse of the ROC. I’m afraid I don’t have a bibliography at my fingertips, but if you did a bit of digging at Taida I’m sure you could find quite a bit to read. Personally, I’m more interested in how the KMT consolidated its rule in Taiwan in the 1950s after the Sun Liren incident and the role that Chiang Ching-kuo played in creating the KMT police state.
There is a fabulous book about Chiang Ching-kuo called The Generlissimo’s Son by Jay Taylor. It is defininetly worth a read.
Taylor used to be in the US Foriegn Service but now he is at Harvard.
I bought my copy at Eslite in Taichung. It is a fairly new book – I think only a couple years old.
There are not many books about the personal life of the Generalissimo so I think that this is a particularly important book.
Is anyone aware of a biography of Chiang Kai-shek?
Some KMT references (from an interesting article in China Quarterly by Bruce J. Dickson, former lead-singer with Iron Maiden, entitled The Lessons of Defeat: The Reorganisation of the Kuomintang on Taiwan, 1950-52, sorry I only have a photocopy so don’t know which CQ it was)
Tien, Hung-mao, The Great Transition: Political and Social Change in the Republic of China, Stanford: Hoover Institution, 1989
Pepper, Suzanne, Civil War in China, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1978
Shieh, Milton, The Kuomintang: Selected Historical Documents, 1894-1969, New York: St. John’s University Press, 1970
Chen, Hao (or possibly Hao, Chen ?), Guomindang paixi fengpo liushinian (shang), Shibao Zazhi No 228 (11 April 1984)
Xu, Fuming, Zhongguo Guomindang de gaizao 1950-52, Taipei: Cheng Chung Book Co., 1986
Yu, George, Party Politics in Republican China, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966
also
Barrett, Richard E., Autonomy and Diversity in the American State on Taiwan; and,
Simon, Denis Fred, External Incorporation and Internal Reform,
both in
Winckler, Edwin A., and, Greenlaugh, Susan (eds.), Contending Approaches to the Political Economy of Taiwan, Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1988
(above Winckler essay also appears in CQ 99 (September 84) as Institutionalisation and participation on Taiwan: from hard to soft authoritarianism?)
Aiya Hexuan!!
Bruce J. DICKSON is assistant professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. He has produced many writings on China/Taiwan.
Bruce DICKINSON is the lead singer of Iron Maiden. Besides songs, he has written a few novels (and has a BA in Modern History) but nothing on Taiwan.
Just fact checking you.
Just for interest - here’s a photo I guess few Taiwanese have ever seen.
I served as bodyguard to one of the ROC delegates to the WACL convention in Phoenix, Arizona back in 1986. Got to wear a suit (!) carry a .45 and drink Johnny Walker Black with General John Singlaub. And I met the Democrat governor of Arizona, Bruce Babbitt. 
Good to see this thread bumped up to the top again. Looks like I’ve got a lot of reading to do (if I can find the books). I just read the Taiwan chapter of ‘Lords of the Rim’ (Sterling Seagrave) again a few nights ago. Great stuff, and that Kaplan book is one of his references.
I was in the Taipei City Library a few weeks ago and they have quite a few Taiwan books. Many are very out fo date, but for that very reason (ie they’re probably out of print too), could be worth checking out for enthusiasts.
Brian
Kaplan is excellent. I used to work for CTIR, which helped him gather information.
Another good book on KMT policy is Jacoby’s US Aid to Taiwan which talks extensively about how stupid KMT economic policy was in the 50s and 60s. Lee Teng-hui’s doctoral thesis Intersectoral Capital Flows in the Economic Development of Taiwan 1895-1960 is, properly read, a massive indictment of KMT policy. After I read that I knew he was pro-independence. Older issues of The Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars will have much to say. I also recommend the Cohen book, Taiwan at the Crossroads. The Politics of Formosan Nationalism is old but still good, and Kerr’s three books, Formosa Betrayed, The Taiwan Confrontation Crisis, and Formosa (though the last focuses on the Japanese period) are are all useful. Ballantine’s old book on Formosa from when he was consul here might have some good basic information. Accinelli’s Crisis and Commitment gives the international politics view, and contains useful tidbits on the KMT. KT Li’s The Evolution of Policy behind Taiwan’s Development is all praises, but might have something useful. Closer to home, Lee Teng-hui is My Relative (Li Teng-hui shih wo de chin chi) written in Chinese, is a fascinating look at the intermarriages and clan relationships that underpin the local political system (let me know where you find a copy, I am still trying to).
There’s a book by Ramon Myers about the KMT, I don’t remember the name so you’ll have to google it. Also in addition to the books listed above there’s Taiwan’s Informal Diplomacy and Propaganda by gary Rawlsley. Really, any book on modern Taiwan history will involve the KMT.
