The Last Empress
Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China
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3.7 • 10 Ratings
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
“This is a triumph of both research and storytelling.” —Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs
From the bestselling author of The Last Romantic comes a history of modern China throughout the 20th century—from the revolution that ended over 2,000 years of monarchy, followed by World War II, and ending in the loss to the Communist party—and the beautiful, but ruthless, woman at its center.
An epic and comprehensive historical tapestry of 20th century China, The Last Empress revolves around the formidable Madame Chiang Kai-shek and her family. Her father, Charlie Soong, a self-made man who sent his children to the United States to be educated; her mother, Ni Kwei-tseng, an unlikely Methodist from the Mandarin class; her husband, Chiang Kai-shek, a military leader and dogmatic warlord; and her sisters, one married to Sun Yat-sen, who founded the Republic of China, and the other to a seventy-fifth lineal descendant of Confucius.
The Soong family—along with their partners in marriage—was largely responsible for bringing China into the 20th century. Brilliantly narrated, this fierce and bloody drama also includes US Army General Joseph Stilwell; Claire Chennault, head of the Flying Tigers; Communist leaders Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai; murderous warlords; journalists Henry Luce, Theodore White, and Edgar Snow; and the unfortunate State Department officials who would be purged for predicting (correctly) the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War.
Well versed in both Western and Chinese culture, Madame Chiang made several tours abroad. She made the cover of Time magazine three times, befriended by the Roosevelts, stayed in the White House for long periods during World War II, and convinced the US Congress to financially support the Nationalists’ war effort. Although dubbed the Dragon Lady in some quarters, she was an icon to her people.
Compelling and definitive, The Last Empress tells the richly complex story of one of the most formidable, controversial, and unforgettable women of the 20th century, and how she helped bring China into the modern age.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pakula, an experienced biographer of royal women (An Uncommon Woman: The Empress Frederick), looks at the imperious (if not imperial) wife of the Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, presenting a richly complex account of 20th-century China that, despite its length, remains thoroughly engrossing to the end. Born May-ling Soong (1897 2003) and educated in America, Madame Chiang and her five Soong siblings were wealthy, Christian, fluent in English and major players in Chinese politics. Marrying Chiang Kai-shek in 1927, the strong-minded and hot-tempered, shrewd and ruthless May-ling quickly became a partner in his efforts as Chinese leader until the Japanese invaded, and then in 1945 when Mao's Communists drove him to Formosa (modern-day Taiwan), which he ruled until his death in 1975. From the 1930s to 1950s, Americans idolized Madame Chiang as a symbol of Chinese resistance to the brutal Japanese and as an anticommunist stalwart. But critics of her and Chiang's ineffective, authoritarian, corrupt leadership soon became the majority. Pakula draws a vivid if often unflattering portrait of a charismatic Chinese patriot, her husband and family, in tumultuous and tragic times. 16 pages of b&w photos; maps.
