A biography of Chiang Kai-shek, the general who led China's Nationalist forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War and went on to head the government in exile in Taiwan, has won the Lionel Gelber prize for the best non-fiction book in English to focus debate on global issues.

Harvard University research associate Jay Taylor is author of The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China.

The annual award is named for Canadian diplomat Lionel Gelber and given by Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies, but considers non-fiction books from around the world.

Taylor, who lives in Arlington, Va., was a U.S. Foreign Service officer in Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution. He is the author of five books.

Judges called the book "a deeply researched, meticulously balanced biography that rescues Mao Zedong's rival — and China's other major revolutionary — from the ash heap of triumphant Communist history, while adding new complexity to Chiang's long balancing act with his domestic and American supporters and foes."

The conventional wisdom about Chiang is that he mounted a lacklustre defence of his country against the Japanese and led a corrupt regime in Taiwan. But Taylor portrays Chiang as a savvy military commander who, in spite of his despotism, went on to lay the foundations for modern Taiwan.

The book has been condemned in mainland China as a propaganda exercise.

Taylor will receive his $15,000 award March 23 in Toronto.