The Cairo Conference of 1943

For four days in November 1943, Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss the future of the war in the China-Burma-India Theater and plans for the ultimate defeat of Japan. This would be the first and last time that these leaders would meet. This book chronicles the Cairo Conference, the events leading up to the conference, and the consequences of the decisions, understandings and misunderstandings that resulted from the summit. The only book-length study of the subject, this text examines the enormous impact the conference had on the course of the war in Asia and post-war Sino-Western relations.

Ronald Ian Heiferman is a professor of history and director of the Asian Studies program at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He has authored or co-authored numerous books and articles about World War II.

Ronald Ian Heiferman

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 207
Bibliographic Info: 8 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4804-3
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8509-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi
Preface      1
Introduction: The War in China, 1937–1942      3

1. Roosevelt’s Envoys in China: 1942      9
2. Madame Chiang’s Public Diplomacy      21
3. T. V. Soong’s Private Diplomacy      34
4. Chiang and Roosevelt Plan a Summit      49
5. November 21–22, 1943: The Cast Assembles      60
6. November 23, 1943: The Play Begins      70
7. November 24, 1943: The Plot Unfolds      81
8. November 25, 1943: The Second Act Begins      92
9. November 26–27, 1943: End of the Second Act      105
10. November 28–29, 1943: Interlude in Teheran, Part I      117
11. November 30–December 1, 1943: The Teheran Interlude, Part II      129
12. December 2–7, 1943: Cairo. The Final Act      139
13. A Postscript on the Cairo Conference      154

Chapter Notes      171
Bibliography      189
Index      195

• Editor’s Choice—Stone & Stone Second World War Books
• “great book…exemplary title…highly recommended”—Stone & Stone Second World War Books
• “pioneering full account of the Cairo Conference…a welcome as well as an impressive addition…admirably comprehensive treatment and objective analysis”—The American Historical Review
• “a thorough and comprehensive analysis…a well researched and well-written addition to the literature on wartime Allied conferences”—H-Net Reviews