Banned in China, Jung Chang’s Wild Swans defined a generation. Now she is back to share the hugely affecting story of her family’s lives through China’s rise to a global superpower.
Jung Chang’s international bestseller Wild Swans was an epic personal history that shaped the way millions of us understand 20th century China. From her grandmother’s birth in 1909 under the last emperor, through Mao Zedong’s rule, the Cultural Revolution during which Jung’s parents were subject to unbelievable suffering, it finished as the end of the Mao era in 1978 with Jung’s emigration to Britain.
She returns to How To Academy to bring the story of her family and modern China up to date. Nearly half a century on, China has risen from a decrepit, isolated state to a global power. The country is now at another watershed moment: Xi Jinping is seeking to turn the country back towards the old Maoist days and build a Communist state with capitalist features.
This new era is greatly affecting the lives of Jung and her mother who still lives in China. Through the arc of their respective lives, Jung will give us an immersive, deeply moving and unforgettable account of what it is like to live in a communist dictatorship and the threats modern China poses to the international world order.
