Customer Reviews

Chasing the Dragon: A Veteran Journalist's Firsthand Account of the 1949 Chinese Revolution

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In "Chasing the Dragon," veteran journalist Roy Rowan relives his coverage of the final battles of the Chinese civil war and the victory of Mao Zedong's Communist army over Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists. It was a climactic chapter in world history that launched the author's distinguished career.

He reported on the bloody siege of Mukden, Manchuria, the million-man battle of Xuzhou and the fall of Shanghai, momentous events that few foreign correspondents covered. Though a young man, Rowan was already a seasoned China hand, having directed truck convoys for the China National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, the regional counterpart of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In that capacity, he had seen the corruption of the Nationalists, which later prompted President Truman to say, "Chiang Kai-shek's downfall was his own making. His generals surrendered the equipment we gave him to the Commies, who then used the arms and ammunition to destroy him."

Rowan was not, in his words, "a do-gooder out to save the starving Chinese" but a man hoping to find "exciting stories to write about as a freelance journalist." His freelancing paid off. A picture story he sent to his literary agent in New York was published in Life, and the magazine hired him to cover the war.

After the Communist takeover, Mao "slammed down the Bamboo Curtain," Rowan writes, "closing the vast land to all Americans but a few Communist sympathizers, just as his mentors in the Kremlin had done with the Iron Curtain." Rowan then moved the Time-Life bureau from Shanghai to Hong Kong. He went on to cover the Cold War in Europe, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He returned to China in 1973 and visited several more times to report on the results of burgeoning capitalism there.

This is a revealing book about stirring events that led to the rise of contemporary China. I highly recommenbd it.

Norman Ritter, journalist and corporate communications consultant

This book is a great personal account of the fall of China. The main characters: Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Lin Biao, Chen Yi, Fu Zuoyi, Communists, and Chiang Kai-Shek, Madame Chiang, Chiang Ching-Kuo, Nationalists; Clare Chennault, Bill Gray, Henry Luce, President Truman, and many others were covered in great details. As a person who was born in Shanghai, I left Shanghai with my parents in May, 1949, I was educated in Taiwan under the Nationalists for 20+ years. I always wondered how Nationalist lost China to Communist? Nationalists got $3.8 bn from USA, weapons, millions of troops, yet could not win the war, truly amazing! During the battle of Xuzhou, Chiang lost 550,000 men and Communists captured 300,000 in just 65 days. Chiang never fought strategically. It is a lesson for all of us, General Myers.... and the ones in Iragi today. $$$ do not dicate the winners or losers in any war. Roy Rowan led a wonderful life covering these events. He gave an excellent talk at Shanghai Tiffin (lunch) club, New York city, on April 23, 2005.

This firsthand account of the fall of China to the Communists is quite engaging. The first half of the book drags a bit, but it picks up as the Communists begins to encircle the Nationalists. The author retreats with the Nationalists Army, from Beijing to Shanghai, and it's always interesting to get the perspective of the loser. Much like the fall of Saigon, the author conveys the dichotomy of panic and denial as the enemy inevitably marches towards the city. The epilogue provided a satisfying conclusion as the author revisits his old haunts.

From a personal perspective, this is a nice addition to the literature on the Communist takeover of China. It is very informative about America's involvement in both the humanitarian efforts and the military failures of Chiang's regime. The American government pumped in 3.5 billion dollars (1948 dollars) into this failed Nationalist government. This government despite the American aid failed to win over the population and militarily defeat the Communists. In fact, the Communists were non corrupt, brave, and resourceful and this resulted in the defeat of the Nationalists.

Rowan watched the corrupt nature of the Nationalist regime, and Chiang's military incompetence. He watched as humanitarian aid was stolen and sold. He watched as Nationalist soldiers threw away their weapons and went over to the enemy. It makes you wonder whether our efforts in Iraq will meet with the same fortune. A nice read of a personal account of the Chinese Revolution.

This book has received great reviews from Smithsonian magazine, People magazine, and Time magazine. See my web site: www.royrowan.com

If you are like me, looking for an in-depth coverage of the campaigns that determined the fate of China, you will be disappointed. The book wasn't interesting until I was almost half way through it. At times I felt like I was reading "A Veteran Journalist's Firsthand Account of Himself during the 1949 Chinese Revolution". The thrilling part of the book was twenty something pages of the Epilogue in which the author takes you on a whirlwind tour of China from 1949 to the Age of Yao Ming. The author's abiding interest in and love of China was quite touching.

1) For the guy who came from Taiwan, you should have confidence in the courage and conscience and faith of your fathers and uncles who fought heroically the war against the Chinese communists. The Chinese communists, no doubt, inherited all the weapons and arsenal of former Japanese Kwantung Army from the Russians. The same weapons also supplied the communist troops to the south of the Great Wall. Russians, other than Japan equipment, also gave trains of American Lend-Lease weapons to Chicom, not to count the German guns and cannons.

2) For the ordinary Amerticans: remember FBI had a report on Chinese communists in America in 1954. The Chinese communists, in 1920s, 30s and 40s, were in San Fancisco and Washington DC and NY. They, together with Russian agents, had turned America against Republic of China. A book worthy of writing could be titled "DECODING CHICOM IN VENONA". The experts on VENOA, however, could not thread together the spelling of Chinese names, something that would be probably covered by me if nobody else is to pick this topic within the coming year.

3) Freda Utley already pierced the myth of 2 billion American aid to ROC. I have ROC itemization to support what Freda stated.

4) The million men campaigns are another topic to be touched on. What is to pierce the myth of communist defeat of half a million government troops would be the same riddle or puzzle as to the exact number of communist troops at the time of Japan surrender. Chicom claimed they had 1 million regular and 2 million militia in 1945. The truth is that they never had more than 400,000 men in Aug 1945. Only after you fully expose the myth of the numbers will you truly come to terms as to the cuase of the collapse of ROC. Incidentally, Truman did know that communist troops never had more than 400,000 in Aug 1945. Read Truman's memoirs and you will find the exact number I had mentioned here. Then why would Truman ignore the truth? Truman and his cronies had an agenda.