The strength of The Republic of China 1912-1949 by Xavier Paules [ published 2019 ] is his many citations of French historians’ works.
This is an area which is much neglected by English authors.
One must not forget that France has many eminent historians of Chinese history in the 1950s and 1960s, before the English and American historians dominated the narratives.
As it takes time and money to translate French works to English, over time the history of China is dominated by English and American historians.
The main point that came out of this excellent book is that Chiang Kai Shek is a much better leader than most writers give him credit for.
The second main point is that if not for the Japanese invasion, Chiang would not have been defeated by Mao and China would have remained a democracy.
Paules gives us a chronological story beginning with the fall of the Ching, the warlords era, the Nanking era, the Japanese invasion and the civil war. Highly recommended.