Author Description

Chiang’s two classic works were first published as a combined volume in English in 1947 (the original Chinese version of China’s Destiny – by far the larger work – first appeared in 1943 selling over a million copies), examine the challenges facing the modernization (and new economic foundation) of China – from the humiliation of the unequal treaties, through to the struggles of the first half of the twentieth century, including the problem of ‘establishing a philosophy of revolution and reconstruction’. The volume is annotated and introduced by Philip Jaffe with an extensive essay entitled ‘The Secrets of China’s Destiny’ where he sets out the history and writing of the two books, arguing that ‘...what happens to China is of vital importance to world peace and prosperity, but it is not so easy to evaluate the conflicting forces and contradictory trends in present-day China.' Jaffe was an apologist for Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang China and was prosecuted (unsuccessfully) on espionage and subversion charges in 1945 as editor of the pro-Communist magazine Amerasia.