When Brothers Fight: Chinese Eyewitness Accounts of the Sino-Soviet Border Battles, 1969

(Paperback)

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In 2021, Helion & Company, a specialist military publishing house based in the UK, published two books by Harold Orenstein and Dmitry Ryabushkin: The Sino-Soviet Border War of 1969 Volume 1: How a Nuclear War between the USSR and China almost started in 1969 and The Sino-Soviet Border War of 1969 Volume 2: Confrontation at Lake Zhalanashkol August 1969. For the first time, the Sino-Soviet war is being examined in such detail in the English language. However good as it may be, Harold Orenstein and Dmitry Ryabushkin's books are written without solid facts from China and can only give partial interpretation to this brief war. We must have facts and information from both sides to understand the battle and circumstances. This book, WHEN BROTHERS FIGHT Chinese Eyewitness Accounts of the Sino-Soviet Border Battles,1969 by Benjamin Lai and Zhang Yiming, aims to fill the gap with actual accounts from Chinese veterans who took part in these border wars. To give the reader a taste of what happened, the authors select two of the best-known incidents of the period, the battle of Zhenbao Island (March-May 1969) and the Tielieketi Incident (Lake Zhalanashkol, 13 August 1969), as the focus for this book. This is an important episode of the Cold War that deserves greater exposure. This brief war marks a turning point between the two Communist giants and in one way or another, lays the foundation for international politics for the next fifty years. In 1972, China moved to the US/Western Camp by signing the Three Joint Communiqus, normalising relations between the US and China and establishing a full diplomatic relationship in 1979 the rest is history. This all started with a shooting match in 1969. This book does not attempt to write history or point fingers at who is right and wrong. It merely attempts to allow the voices of the Chinese veterans to be heard; doing so will enable us to see with a 20/20 vision of what happened back in 1969. 98 b/w photographs, 13 b/w illustrations, 3 colour photos, 3 colour illustrations, 2 colour profiles, 11 maps

Reviews

"For those with aspirations of a Far East Cold War skirmish, these three volumes provide the details you need. Enjoyed it."-- "Historical Miniatures Gaming Society"

Author Bio

Benjamin Lai was originally from Hong Kong, but educated in the UK. He was one of the few Chinese to serve in the British Army as a commissioned officer in the 1980s in both Hong Kong and the UK. Fully bilingual, Benjamin Lai has been interested in World War II and postwar matters for many years but in recent times has developed specialization in Asian military issues with an emphasis on China. Among his previous works are The Chinese People's Liberation Army Since 1949: Ground Forces, and Hong Kong 1941-1945. Zhang Yiming is currently working in a bank. He has written one book and many articles about military history published in China. He has focused on military history, covering topics as diverse as the Sino-Soviet Border Battles, Snio-Vietnam Border Battles and Snio-India Border Battles. This is his first volume for Helion.