Chiang Ching-kuo, son and political heir of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, was born in 1910, when Chinese women, nearly all illiterate, hobbled about on bound feet and men wore pigtails as symbols of subservience to the Manchu Dynasty. In his youth Ching-kuo was a Communist and a Trotskyite, and he lived twelve years in Russia. He died in 1988 as the leader of Taiwan, a Chinese society with a flourishing consumer economy and a budding but already wild, woolly, and open democracy. He was an actor in many of the events of the last century that shaped the history of China's struggles and achievements in the modern era: the surge of nationalism among Chinese youth, the grand appeal of Marxism-Leninism, the terrible battle against fascist Japan, and the long, destructive civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists. In 1949, he fled to Taiwan with his father and two million Nationalists. He led the brutal suppression of dissent on the island and was a major player in the cold, sometimes hot war between Communist China and America. By reacting to changing economic, social, and political dynamics on Taiwan, Sino-American rapprochement, Deng Xiaoping's sweeping reforms on the mainland, and other international events, he led Taiwan on a zigzag but ultimately successful transition from dictatorship to democracy.
Jay Taylor underscores the interaction of political developments on the mainland and in Taiwan and concludes that if China ever makes a similar transition, it will owe much to the Taiwan example and the Generalissimo's son.
Industry Reviews
"Taiwan enjoys a booming economy and a lively, boisterous democracy. In this deeply detailed biography, Taylor maintains that Chiang Ching-kuo is largely responsible for both. Though historically still in the shadow of his famous father, Chiang Kai-shek...the younger Chiang spent a life that is itself fascinating...Of special note is Taylor's account of how Chiang skillfully read and used the changing trends of the Cold War and the post-Cold War period to allow Taiwan to not only survive but prosper...This work will long remain his definitive biography." Publishers Weekly Most historians have not been kind to the man who failed China and then ruthlessly established his presence on the island of Taiwan, which he ruled under martial law until his death in 1975...Jay Taylor tries to convince us that Chiang Ching-kuo, despite his own ruthless suppression of any opposition in Taiwan, was fundamentally a better man than his father...Following his life in this book gives one a good picture of this tumultuous period in China's history. It may also help to explain at least a little of the passion felt on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. -- Danyll Wills South China Morning Post 20001014 Jay Taylor has written a superb, magnificently researched biography of Chiang Kai-shek's son, Ching-kuo, the man who set the stage for the democratization of Taiwan. [The Generalissimo's Son] tells the fascinating story of the man who set Taiwan on its new course, a course which seems to preclude unification with China and presents a grave danger to the peace of the world. -- Warren I. Cohen Times Literary Supplement 20010420 The first comprehensive Chiang Ching-kuo biography in English, this very readable book is based on extensive documentary research and interviews. It is an important addition to the literature of China's (and Taiwan's) modern history and politics. -- J. Chen Choice 20010701 Taylor has written an excellent biography. -- Jonathan Fenby Times Higher Education 20090730 [A] detailed and revealing biography. -- Jonathan D. Spence New York Review of Books 20091022 Break[s] new ground--introducing a relatively unknown figure to the West. By weaving together numerous interviews and historical research, [Taylor] create[s] a fast-paced narrative that crackle[s] with the excitement of international diplomacy and Cold War espionage. -- Robert Green Far Eastern Economic Review 20090501
