Although the Chinese contribution to Allied victory in World War II is often ignored, China fought the Japanese Empire for far longer than any other belligerent nation. By the time that the Sino-Japanese War became absorbed into the wider conflict at the end of 1941, Chinese armies had already suffered huge casulties and half the country had been lost. By fighting on with Allied support, China tied down a million Japanese troops. After Japan's defeat in 1945, China was immediately plunged back into civil war between Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and Mao Tse-tung's Communists; and the latter's victory in 1949 changed the world for the rest of the 20th century and beyond.

Author Biography

Philip Jowett was born in Leeds in 1961 and has been interested in military history for as long as he can remember. His first Osprey book was the ground-breaking Men-at-Arms 306: 'Chinese Civil War Armies 1911 - 49'; he has since published a three-part sequence on the Italian Army 1940 - 45 (Men-at-Arms volumes 340, 349 & 353). A rugby league enthusiast and amateur genealogist, he is married and lives in Lincolnshire. Stephen Walsh studied art at the North East Wales Institute. Since then, he has worked mainly for the American historical board-game market, fulfilling a lifelong interest in historical subjects. His American works include the best-selling Settlers of Catan. He has also produced many pieces of artwork inspired by J R R Tolkien. He is married with two children and lives in Macclesfield.