Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power: The Emergence of Revolutionary China, 1937-1945

Rating:
Summary: Communism or Nationalism?
Review: In this well written thoughtful work Chalmers Johnson makes a strong case for what he sees as a more accurate approach to Chinese Communist history and the reasons for the success of the CCP where the KMT failed. For those of you who may be wondering how it was possible for the CCP to go from nearly being wiped out in Jiangxi to conquering all of China, this text has many feasible answers. It is also a clear study of the use of social mobilization and Nationalism in communist propaganda in both China and Yugoslavia. Johnson uses many Japanese sources, supporting his claim for the influence of the Japanese invasion of China(1931 or 1937 depending on your point of view) as a leading cause for the success of the CCP. For those who are interested in contemporary Chinese history and Asian geo-politics this book is GREAT! I would recomend it to any student of Asian studies.