Red Dawn Over China with Frank Dikötter: Global Roaming LIVE

The history of modern China has long been portrayed as a tale of Communists fighting in the hills for freedom, gradually gaining popular support by taking land from the rich and giving it to the poor.

Drawing on a wealth of archival evidence, Frank Dikötter’s Red Dawn Over China reveals how unlikely the Party's victory actually was, had it not been for the financial and military support of the Soviet Union.

In this riveting tale told with great narrative verve, Frank Dikötter reveals how thirteen delegates gathered in a dusty room in 1921 ended up raising the red flag over the Forbidden City in 1949, forever altering the course of history for a quarter of humanity and shaping the world as we know it today.

Join hosts Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald for ABC Radio National’s Global Roaming live, as they discuss how communism came to conquer China with special guest Frank Dikötter.