In 1968, Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, asserting his control of China 15 years later, Deng Xiaoping launched the reform and opening up period, putting China on the path to becoming an economic powerhouse. But what happens in between these two critical periods of Chinese history? How does China go from Mao’s Cultural Revolution to Deng’s embrace of reforms?

Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian together fill in this history in The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform.

Odd Arne Westad is the Elihu Professor of History and Global Affairs at Yale University. His books include The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times (Cambridge University Press, 2012), winner of the Bancroft Prize, and Restless Empire: China and the World since 1750 (Basic Books, 2012). Chen Jian is Distinguished Global Network Professor of History at NYU and NYU Shanghai and Hu Shih Professor of History Emeritus at Cornell University. His books include China’s Road to the Korean War (Columbia University Press, 1994), Mao’s China and the Cold War (The University of North Carolina Press, 2001), and Zhou Enlai: A Life (Harvard University Press, 2024).

Nicholas Gordon has an MPhil from Oxford in International Relations and a BA from Harvard. He is a writer, editor and occasional radio host based in Hong Kong.