I recently wrote an article on the Mauser C96 pistol, and noted in it that the C96 saw extensive use throughout the Chinese Civil War- in fact, the Chinese Civil War was pretty much the only reason the C96 stayed in production as long as it did.
However, I also realised lately that I know surprisingly little about the Chinese Civil War, beyond the fact that there was a Chinese Civil War, the Communists won, the Nationalists ended up on Taiwan, and Mauser and Astra made bucketloads of cash selling C96 pistols to everyone involved.
I also know almost nothing about the Spanish Civil War (which was going on at more or less the same time) beyond the fact it happened, General Franco won, almost everyone who was later in WWII got involved on the sly or lent equipment to the various Spanish forces, the Germans levelled Guernica via carpet-bombing and Picasso made a painting about it, and, today, General Franco is still dead.
In order to correct this inexcusable gap in my historical knoweldge, I’ve just acquired a copy of Anthony Beevor’s The Battle for Spain to read. I’m a big fan of his earlier works on WWII (Stalingrad and Berlin), so I’m looking forward to seeing his style applied to a conflict that I’m not familiar with.
Anyway, I’d also like to read up on the Chinese Civil War- which is, by all accounts, a fascinating conflict- so I was wondering if anyone could recommend some decent, readable history or reference books on the Chinese Civil War? Nothing too heavy at this stage (I know it’s a complicated affair), but a broad overview with some historical context, major battles, notable commanders/personages, etc would be an excellent start.
I’ve done a search on Amazon and come up with almost nothing… anyone here on the boards able to help?