45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Story, Mediocre History, December 14, 2009
Madame Chiang Kai-shek was, as journalists like to say, a good story. It is a story of wartime travails, of high-stakes political gambling, of an epic fight-to-the-finish between authoritarian Nationalists and radical Communists. It's also a story of a tempestuous partnership between an ascetic military man and his glamorous, winsome, shrewd and luxury-loving wife. He needed her connections to American money. She needed his access to power. Time magazine named them "Man and Woman of the Year" for 1937, essentially colluding in their myth-making. Together, they led China, and then lost it.
Madame Chiang dazzled Franklin Roosevelt, bedded Wendell Wilkie, backstabbed Gen. Joseph Stilwell and, for a time, enthralled the greater American public. Dynamic, vain, literary and ambitious -- she's a great subject for a long biography.
This is a beautifully designed book, with an inviting cover and an excellent array of photographs inside. Unfortunately, what lies between the covers is not as magical. The writing is OK, but Pakula often seems tone-deaf to the subtleties of Chinese culture and history. Then again, Madame Chiang's story is so engrossing that, for those who like an old-fashioned approach, this long-form rendering is still pretty absorbing. Madame Chiang's life spanned the entire 20th century, and she lived through a period of considerable upheaval, intersecting with quite a cast of characters.
Born in the last years of the 19th century, May-ling Soong was the youngest of three sisters whose father, Charlie, a Christian who made millions printing Bibles, bucked Chinese tradition by raising his daughters to be independent, savvy and ambitious. The eldest became one of China's richest women. The second married Sun Yat-sen, China's first president, and then cast her lot with Mao and the Communists. May-ling went to the U.S. for schooling at age 10, first in Georgia and then at Wellesley. When she returned to Shanghai, she said: "the only thing Oriental about me is my face." Before long, however, she took to wearing elegant, body-hugging Chinese gowns on her slender figure. She drew many suitors, but none had quite the promise of young Chiang Kai-shek, a general who believed himself destined to lead China into a modern era. Chiang had to divorce one wife, pack off a second to graduate school in New York and promise to convert to Christianity before May-ling's mother would approve the match.
"In seeking out a wife with money and power behind her, Chiang had found a woman with ideas and energy as well," writes Pakula. May-ling had more than ideas and energy. She soon became a poised partner who could soften his imperiousness, write his speeches and eventually become his best diplomat and public relations agent. When Chiang joined Roosevelt and Churchill for a summit in Cairo, his wife simultaneously translated and refashioned his remarks.
Her finest hour came in 1943, when she went to the U.S. to appeal for support in the war against Japan. With a Georgia lilt in her fluent English, and impassioned speeches about an ancient culture transforming into a democracy, Madame Chiang charmed Washington and Congress. By the time she was done touring the country, she had secured political support for billions in aid. How much of it ended up in the pockets of the Chiangs and Soongs is an enduring mystery. Pakula made considerable efforts to find a paper trail, with limited success.
Madame Chiang suffered mysterious illnesses, and took lengthy stays in U.S. hospitals, with long separations from her husband. Their relationship was complex. There are signs of tenderness in surviving letters and telegrams, as well as eyewitness accounts of vicious arguments. Pakula airs some intriguing anecdotes. One has May-ling confiding to a friend that she and Chiang were never intimate, because he wanted no more children. Another suggests that he had been rendered infertile from venereal disease, and never told her. She did have a passionate affair with Wilkie, Roosevelt's ex-rival for president. But she remained childless.
Eventually, Mao and the Communists defeated Chiang, chasing him to the island of Taiwan. The Chiangs vowed to retake China, but hope faded as the U.S. moved onto other wars in Korea and Vietnam. After Chiang died in 1975, Madame moved to New York, living until 2003. She was 105 years old. Or maybe 106. (She consistently hid her true age.)
Pakula has an annoying habit of abandoning judgment when she encounters conflicting evidence, resorting to phrases like "some say . . ." or "whatever the truth or falseness of these stories. . . ." From a historian who evidently spent 10 years with her material, we deserve more.
Madame Chiang trailblazed the role of first lady in China, and surpassed it. Her advocacy for the Nationalist cause was doomed, but she certainly cut a deep path on the consciousness of modern China.
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Unforgetable Woman, November 23, 2009
A good biography tells a good story. With grace and great sympathetic imagination Hannah Pakula gives us a flesh and blood heroine, never a mere historical figure. For all that she is aware of her subject's faults, she does justice to her courage, her wit, and her sheer endurance. Thanks to its epic scope and rich cast of characters, this biography reads at times like one of those great three-volume nineteenth century novels. By showing May-ling Soong not only in the context of her powerful and problematic family but also at the very center of China's tumultuous modern history, Pakula makes clear how tangled the choices became for this Wellesley girl who dreamed of making something of her life. Having made a great match, by allying herself with what looks to be the man of the hour, the young Madame Chiang Kai-shek soon finds herself struggling to put a good face on the ill-advised decisions of a corrupt and capricious dictator. Not only is she serving as his translator but once Japan invades Manchuria and the Communists begin to present a serious threat to her husband's government, she increasingly assumes the role of his ambassador to the Western World. If power corrupts, then absolute power can be said to corrupt absolutely. It is to Hannah Pakula's credit that the reader leaves this book wondering what would have happened to May-ling if, instead of her older sister, she'd had a chance to marry Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. Or, perhaps better yet, if her romantic attachment to Wendell Wilkie hadn't been brought to an abrupt end by his death.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Last Empress: 105 years of spirited life for May-Ling the Chinese Dragon Lady who was the wife of Chang Kai-Chek, December 7, 2009
Her name was May-Ling Soong. She lived from 1897 to 2003. She came from a wealthy household. Her father Charlie Soong raised himself from peasanthood to become a rich businessman. One of her sisters married Mr. Kung a millionaire businessman, another married the legendary Sun Yat-Sen the founder of modern China. One of her brothers T.V. Soong had a PH.D from Columbia in finance and was among the richest men in the world. What a family and what a lady! May-Ling studied in Georgia and graduated from Wellesley where her best friend was American Emily Mills.
May-Ling spoke perfect English, was materialistic and a beautiful and sexy woman. In the 1920s she wed Kai-Shek. He became the dictator of China who lost in the Chinese Civil War against Mao's Communists. CKS and Mayling retreated to Taiwain in 1949 where they set up the nationalistic Chinese government. CKS died in 1975. May-Ling often spent a good deal of time in America during the power couple's long marriage. She often had skin problems and other ailments. She could be nervous and demanding of those around her. She could also charm the pants off famous men. Her spouse CKS was often cruel having no problem with eliminating those who opposed his policies.
May-Ling was a devoted Methodist Christian and talked CKS into becoming a Christian. May-Ling spent much of her life in America. She lived in New York from 1975 until her death. She probably did not love CKS and had no children. During World War II she was adroit at bringing in millions of dollars to Chinese coffers as they fought the Japanese. She often visited the White House becoming friendly with Eleanor Roosevelt and FDR. President Truman did not like her since he felt she supported a corrupt regime. (which she did!). In many ways, as Pakula notes, CKS operated like a Chinese warlord.
May-Ling and US presidential contender Wendell Wilkie had an affair. She could be kind or cruel depending upon her mood or political strategy. May-Ling could also be warm or aloof. She was adept at treating her servants like coolies!
One of her sisters lived in Communist China and there were many quarrels and disagreements in her distinguished family.
Author Pakula has written a massive 800 page book on Madame CKS and her times. It is excellent not only for the biography of May-Ling but also for examining in depth China's troubled 20th century history. The book is well illustrated with maps and photos. This is the best book available on May-Ling. It is a detailed and illuminating account of the life of one of the twentieth century's greatest women.
Love her or loath her this is one of the best biographies of the year! Kudos to Hannah Pakula!
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