Please note this event will now start at 6.30pm. 

 

Mao Zedong lived one of the most epic and influential lives of the twentieth century. His impact on the People’s Republic of China was vast. Half a century after his passing, he remains a divisive and controversial figure. This book gives an accessible narrative of his life, from the fall of the Qing in the early part of the twentieth century to the long years in which Mao Zedong struggled not only to ensure the Communist Party of China survived, but that it then came to power after a civil war with the nationalists. Mao’s tragic failures as ruler were some of the worst to ever befall a modern society, while his personal life remains a source of intense interest. Clear-eyed and non-partisan, this is the first accessible biography of Mao to appear in English for some time.

Join on Thursday 11 June for the launch of Professor Kerry Brown's latest book 'Mao: Power and Contradiction', chaired by Dr Olivia Cheung, Department of European and International Studies at King's.

Registration is required for all external attendees. Those without tickets will not be admitted.

Speakers

Kerry Brown is Professor of Chinese Studies and Director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College, London. From 2012 to 2015 he was Professor of Chinese Politics and Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, Australia. Prior to this he worked at Chatham House from 2006 to 2012, as Senior Fellow and then Head of the Asia Programme. From 1998 to 2005 he worked at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as First Secretary at the British Embassy in Beijing, and then as Head of the Indonesia, Philippine and East Timor Section. He previously graduated from Cambridge University and has a PhD in Chinese politics and language from Leeds University. He is the author of 20 books on modern Chinese politics.

Olivia Cheung is Lecturer in Politics at the Department of European & International Studies and Affiliate of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London. She is also China Fellow at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Brussels School of Governance, Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Previously, she was Research Fellow at the China Institute of SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London, and Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick. She obtained the MPhil and DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford as a Swire Scholar and Rhodes Scholar. Dr Cheung is the author or co-author of China’s Global Strategy Under Xi Jinping (Oxford University Press, 2026); The Political Thought of Xi Jinping (Oxford University Press, 2024; and Factional-Ideological Conflicts in Chinese Politics: To the Left or to the Right? (Amsterdam University Press, 2023; free e-book).