{"product_id":"the-generalissimos-son-by-jay-taylor-9780674002876","title":"The Generalissimo's Son","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Generalissimo's Son\u003c\/i\u003e by Jay Taylor delves into the life of Chiang Ching-kuo, the son and political heir of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. Born in 1910, a time when Chinese women, nearly all illiterate, experienced the constraint of bound feet and men wore pigtails as symbols of subservience to the Manchu Dynasty, Chiang Ching-kuo's life journey is as fascinating as it is transformative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn his youth, Ching-kuo was a Communist and a Trotskyite, spending twelve years living in Russia. By the time of his death in 1988, he had emerged as the leader of Taiwan, a society characterised by a flourishing consumer economy and an evolving, vibrant democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eChiang Ching-kuo played significant roles in key historical events of the last century: the surge of nationalism amongst Chinese youth, the appeal of Marxism-Leninism, the battle against fascist Japan, and the long civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists. In 1949, he fled to Taiwan with his father and two million Nationalists, where he led the brutal suppression of dissent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe was a pivotal figure in the tense relations between Communist China and America, where cold wars sometimes turned hot. Reacting to changing dynamics on Taiwan, Sino-American rapprochement, Deng Xiaoping's sweeping reforms, and other international events, he steered Taiwan through a tumultuous but successful transition from dictatorship to democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJay Taylor highlights the interplay between political developments on the mainland and in Taiwan, suggesting that if China ever undergoes a similar transition, it will owe much to the Taiwanese example and the leadership of the Generalissimo's son.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855865073900,"sku":"9780674002876","price":188.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/26616433482427.jpg?v=1759281340","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/the-generalissimos-son-by-jay-taylor-9780674002876","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}