
The Secret War for China
Espionage, Revolution and the Rise of Mao
Panagiotis Dimitrakis(Author)
I.B. Tauris (Publisher)
Published on 22. September 2017
Book
Hardback
416 pages
978-1-78453-903-0 (ISBN)
Description
In 1927, Chiang Kai-shek - the head of China's military academy and leader of the Kuomintang (KMT) - began the `northern expeditions' to bring China's northern territories back under the control of the state. It was during this period that the KMT purged communist activities, fractured the army and sparked the Chinese Civil War - which would rage for over twenty years. The communists, led by General Mao Tse-Tsung, were for much of the period forced underground and concentrated in the Chinese countryside. As the author argues, this resulted in China's war featuring unusually high levels of espionage and sabotage, and increased the military importance of information gathering. Based on newly declassified material, Panagiotis Dimitrakis charts the double-crossings, secret meetings and bloody assassinations which would come to define China's future. Uniquely, The Secret War for China gives equal weighting to the role of foreign actors: the role of British intelligence in unmasking Communist International (Comintern) agents in China, for example, and the allies' attempts to turn nationalist China against the Japanese. The Secret War for China also documents the clandestine confrontation between Mao and Chiang and the secret negotiations between Chiang and the Axis Powers, whose forces he employed against the CCP once the Second World War was over. In his turn, Mao employed nationalist forces who had defected - during the last three years of the civil war about 105 out of 869 KMT generals defected to the CCP. This book is an urgent and necessary guide to the intricacies of the Chinese Civil War, a war which decisively shaped the modern Asian world.
Reviews / Votes
`A remarkable portrait of intelligence, espionage and covert action. This highly readable account illuminates an important new aspect of both Chinese history and international history.' -Professor Richard J Aldrich, University of Warwick, `The author draws on a wide range of sources to paint a fascinating picture of the shadowy activities and colorful characters that competing Chinese factions, Western powers, and Japan undertook in their attempts to control China over the first half of the twentieth century.' - Professor Harold Tanner, University of North Texas, `In his new book, Panagiotis Dimitrakis provides us with a remarkable piece of research into the shadowy world of espionage and intelligence in China for almost the whole of the twentieth century. He has brought to light a kind of parallel history, one that fills in many of the blanks of the more conventional accounts of China, beginning with the Revolution of 1911 and continuing to the rise of Mao and his seizure of power.' - Richard Bernstein, The first Beijing bureau chief for Time and author of China 1945: Mao's Revolution and America's Fateful ChoiceMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
1 map
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
652 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78453-903-0 (9781784539030)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
09/2017
1st Edition
I.B. Tauris
€38.49
Available for download

E-Book
09/2017
1st Edition
I.B. Tauris
€38.49
Available for download
Person
Panagiotis Dimitrakis holds a doctorate in War Studies from King's College London, and is an expert on intelligence and military history. He is the author of The Secret War in Afghanistan (I.B.Tauris, 2013), and Military Intelligence in Cyprus: From the Great War to Middle East Crises (I.B.Tauris, 2010) amongst others.
Content
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Suspect Everyone
1. Spies Unleashed
2. Failed Campaigns
3. Shadowing the Comintern
4. Lawrence of Manchuria
5. The Unparalleled Intelligence Failure
6. Rogue Spymasters
7. Learning the Ropes of Espionage
8. The 'C'
9. The Secret Strategy
10. A mole in Mao's office
11. Murderous Intrigues
12. The Antagonists
13. The Kremlin's Spies
14. Our Man in Yenan
15. Into Manchuria
16. An American General
17. The Japanese Friends
18. The Russian Operatives
19. Uranium
20. Spying on the Cousin
21. The One-Eyed Lieutenant-General
22. Secret Sources
23. Guy Burgess the Spy
24. Spies' Warnings
25. Stalin fears
26. HMS Amethyst
Aftermath: 'Your Future is Very Dark'
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Suspect Everyone
1. Spies Unleashed
2. Failed Campaigns
3. Shadowing the Comintern
4. Lawrence of Manchuria
5. The Unparalleled Intelligence Failure
6. Rogue Spymasters
7. Learning the Ropes of Espionage
8. The 'C'
9. The Secret Strategy
10. A mole in Mao's office
11. Murderous Intrigues
12. The Antagonists
13. The Kremlin's Spies
14. Our Man in Yenan
15. Into Manchuria
16. An American General
17. The Japanese Friends
18. The Russian Operatives
19. Uranium
20. Spying on the Cousin
21. The One-Eyed Lieutenant-General
22. Secret Sources
23. Guy Burgess the Spy
24. Spies' Warnings
25. Stalin fears
26. HMS Amethyst
Aftermath: 'Your Future is Very Dark'