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Sun 9 Jun, 2013 02:02 am
Context:
China's War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival
Rana Mitter
In Rana Mitter's tense, moving and hugely important book, the war between China and Japan - one of the most important struggles of the Second World War - at last gets the masterly history it deserves Different countries give different opening dates for the period of the Second World War, but perhaps the most compelling is 1937, when the 'Marco Polo Bridge Incident' plunged China and Japan into a conflict of extraordinary duration and ferocity - a war which would result in many millions of deaths and completely reshape East Asia in ways which we continue to confront today. With great vividness and narrative drive Rana Mitter's new book draws on a huge range of new sources to recreate this terrible conflict. He writes both about the major leaders (Chiang Kaishek, Mao Zedong and Wang Jingwei) and about the ordinary people swept up by terrible times. Mitter puts at the heart of our understanding of the Second World War that it was Japan's failure to defeat China which was the key dynamic for what happened in Asia.
Reviews:'Rana Mitter's history of the Sino-Japanese War is not only a very important book, it also has a wonderful clarity of thought and prose which make it a pleasure to read' Antony Beevor 'The best study of China's war with Japan written in any language ... comprehensive, thoroughly based on research, and totally non-partisan. Above all, the book presents a moving account of the Chinese people's incredible suffering ... A must read for anyone interested in the origins of China's contribution to the making of today's world' Akira IriyeAbout the author:Rana Mitter is Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Cross College. He is the author of A Bitter Revolution: China's Struggle with the Modern World. He is a regular presenter of Night Waves on Radio 3.
"It deserves" refers to "masterly history". The author is saying such an important war should have a complete and well done history book to describe it and this is that book.
@engineer,
engineer wrote:
"It deserves" refers to "masterly history". The author is saying such an important war should have a complete and well done history book to describe it and this is that book.
Well, I meant what does "it" refer to.
See my title:
Does "it deserves" mean "the war between China and Japan deserves"?
the war between China and Japan - one of the most important struggles of the Second World War - at last gets the masterly history it deserves
Observe the structure. See the dashes (shown as hyphens here) which are parenthetical. Dashes are used to offset parenthetical information – that is, information which you might put in parentheses. When you use parentheses, though, the emphasis is taken off the parenthetical information and put on the rest of the sentence. When you use dashes (two of them), the emphasis is put on the information within the dashes.
For this usage, do make sure there are two dashes: one on each side of the parenthetical information.
While I was shopping – wandering aimlessly up and down the aisles, actually – I ran into our old neighbour.
A typographical point: in proper printed material the dash is longer than a hyphen; when using a typewriter it was common to use two hyphens for one dash like this:
The cat -- which was fat and black -- was sitting on the mat.
@contrex,
contrex wrote:
the war between China and Japan - one of the most important struggles of the Second World War - at last gets the masterly history it deserves
Observe the structure. See the dashes (shown as hyphens here) which are parenthetical. Dashes are used to offset parenthetical information – that is, information which you might put in parentheses. When you use parentheses, though, the emphasis is taken off the parenthetical information and put on the rest of the sentence. When you use dashes (two of them), the emphasis is put on the information within the dashes.
For this usage, do make sure there are two dashes: one on each side of the parenthetical information.
While I was shopping – wandering aimlessly up and down the aisles, actually – I ran into our old neighbour.
A typographical point: in proper printed material the dash is longer than a hyphen; when using a typewriter it was common to use two hyphens for one dash like this:
The cat -- which was fat and black -- was sitting on the mat.
Useful information. It goes along my intuition.
Thanks.
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