''The Battle for Asia'' is a book by

Edgar Snow Edgar Parks Snow (July 19, 1905 – February 15, 1972) was an American journalist known for his books and articles on communism in China and the Chinese Communist Revolution. He was the first Western journalist to give an account of the history of ...

, published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

in April 1941. It portrays China during the early years of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

Background

Edgar Snow arrived in Yanan, China on July 13, 1936, with the help of Madame Soong Ching Ling. Before Edgar Snow's arrival, very little was known about the

Chinese Communists The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil W ...

from the outside world. Once in Yanan, Edgar Snow met the leader of the Chinese Communist Party

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

. Edgar's early years in "Red China" would be the basis for his book "

Red Star Over China ''Red Star Over China'' is a 1937 book by Edgar Snow based on his visit on the eve of the Second Sino-Japanese War to areas controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), when it was largely obscure to Westerners. The book made an impact on ...

." which was published in 1937, and was reported to be a big hit in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, selling 100,000 copies. Following the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Edgar Snow began reporting on the conflict, which would be the basis for his book The Battle for Asia.

Synopsis

The Battle for Asia reports on the events and atmosphere of China during the early years of the Second Sino-Japanese war. The book opens with the Japanese occupation of

Peking Beijing, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's most populous national capital city as well as China's second largest city by urban area after Shanghai. It is l ...

following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, and the round-up, and execution of local resistance fighters by the Japanese within the city. Following Peking, Edgar provides a background on the rise of the Empire of Japan, from the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

to the Mukden Incident. Afterward, Edgar reports on the

Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai ( zh, t=淞滬會戰, s=淞沪会战, first=t, p=Sōng hù huìzhàn) was a major battle fought between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China in the Chinese city of Shanghai during ...

, the

Battle of Nanjing The Battle of Nanking (or Nanjing) was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanjing ( zh, c=南京, p=Nánjīng), the ca ...

, and the events of the

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly Chinese postal romanization, romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanji ...

, including looting, the murder, and rape of Chinese civilians by the Japanese Army, as well as the Bombing of the USS Panay. In 1938, Edgar Snow starts reporting on

Hankow Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...

. A city that Edgar described as already under siege by the time he arrived in the city in 1938. Snow would report on the dire situation in Hankow for the next three months. Following the fall of Hankow in October 1938, Edgar Snow briefly set up his headquarters in the British colony of

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, where he reported on the apathy of the local British, and Chinese elites in Hong Kong towards the war in the mainland. After spending several months in Hong Kong he arrived in Chungking in the Summer of 1939 to continue reporting on the conflict. In addition to the main events in the Second Sino-Japanese War, Edgar Snow delves into other subjects connected to the war.

Rewi Alley Rewi Alley (known in China as 路易•艾黎, Lùyì Aìlí, 2 December 1897 – 27 December 1987) was a New Zealand-born writer and political activist. A member of the Chinese Communist Party, he dedicated 60 years of his life to the cause an ...

, the

Chinese Industrial Cooperatives Chinese Industrial Cooperatives ( zh, c=工業合作社, p=Gōngyè Hézuòshè) (CICs) were organisations established in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) to support China's war effort by organizing small-scale grassroots in ...

, Kim Yak-San and the

Korean Independence Movement The Korean independence movement was a series of diplomatic and militant efforts to liberate Korea from Japanese rule. The movement began around the late 19th or early 20th century, and ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. As independence a ...

in Free China, Chinese Turkistan, and "China's Japanese Allies" in Free China, such as Kaji Wataru, and Kazuo Aoyama. The last chapter of the book discusses the inevitable war between Japan and the Western powers (Britain, America, and the Dutch), the conflict in China spreading into

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, Malaya, and the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

, and an

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

between Japan and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, the only independent nation in Asia other than Japan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle For Asia American non-fiction books Books about war Books about China