Description:

The Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy and the Johnson Center for the Study of American Democracy welcome Chen Jian for a discussion with Grand Strategy Director Arne Westad on their co-authored book, The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform. The book chronicles how an impoverished and terrorized China experienced radical political changes in the long 1970s and how ordinary people broke free from the beliefs that had shaped their lives during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. These changes, and the unprecedented and sustained economic growth that followed, transformed China and the world.

Chen 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, Mao’s China and the Cold War, and Zhou Enlai: A Life. Westad is Elihu Professor of History and Global Affairs and the author of 16 books, most of which deal with 20th-century Asian and global history. Michael Brenes, co-Director of the Grand Strategy Program and lecturer in history, will moderate the conversation.

Following the event, there will be a book signing from 6:00-6:30pm and copies of the book will be available for purchase.