Book Review : Max Ko-wu Huang, Above and Apart: Gu Mengyu and His Search for an Alternative Path in Modern Chinese History (Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2020)

Gu mengyu (Ku Mengyu, 1889–1972) leader of the leftist Kuomingtang (KMT) from 1924 to 1931 and German-trained economist, was a staunch nationalist, who emphasized democratic forces in his academic thought and Kuomintang affairs. He served as the Minister of Railways later and was the mastermind of the Third Force Movement in Hong Kong and Japan during the Cold War. After the death of Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), Gu became the decision-maker of the Wang Ching-wei (1883-1944) which contended with Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975) among the Chinese revolutionary forces. However, Gu Mengyu consistently stood against Chiang and the more totalitarian aspects of Communist forces for most of his political career, which obscured him in orthodox discourses of the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is for this reason that Max Ko-wu Huang, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, tries to rediscover Gu Mengyu.