SAVE THE DATE
We are thrilled to confirm three very well-known China figures and authors, Professor Kerry Brown, John Donald and Paul French for this year’s Book Fair.
Date: Monday 16th November 2026
Venue: Oriental Club, London
Cost: TBD
Timings:
18:00: Book Sales and Signings with authors & welcome drink
18.30: ‘In Conversation with the Authors’ & Q&A
19.30: Meet the Authors/Book Sales, Signings, Canapés, Cash bar
20:30: End
Authors taking part in the ‘In Conversation with the Authors’
Professor Kerry Brown - Mao: Power and Contradiction
John Donald - Me, Mao & Milly – The Diplomatic Memoirs of Sir Alan Donald
Paul French - The Last Emperor of China – Twilight of the Forbidden City
All of the books listed below will be available for purchase and signing on the day or feel free to bring your own copies to be signed.
Professor Kerry Brown - Mao: Power and Contradiction. 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 dynasty in the early part of the twentieth century to the long years in which he 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.
John Donald - Me, Mao & Milly – The Diplomatic Memoirs of Sir Alan Donald. TSir Alan Donald worked as a diplomat in China three times– in the 1950s, 60s and 80s. Each time there was a similar pattern, starting with the hopes of greater openness and freedom and ending with severe crackdowns. These were the disaster of the Great Leap Forward, the madness of the Cultural Revolution and in the 1980s, when he was there as Ambassador, the Tiananmen Square massacre. He was also closely involved with the negotiations to hand back the British Colony of Hong Kong to China in 1997. He witnessed it all and recounts his experiences in this memoir.
Paul French - The Last Emperor of China – Twilight of the Forbidden City. In the early 1920s, China's boy ruler Puyi and his young bride Wanrong were sequestered within the ancient citadel: a city-within-a-city, a haven prohibited to all except the imperial family and its scheming courtiers. An emperor without an empire, Puyi did not know whether he would experience restoration or assassination. Two years later, the couple was expelled into eternal exile, bringing an end to the centuries-old Manchu dynasty.
Bestselling historian Paul French draws upon previously unpublished sources to take us deep inside this hidden world. In this crucial period decisions of great consequence were made that would determine the future of the royal couple – and of China. What emerges is a sweeping tale of tradition and revolution, of duty and intrigue – and a young married couple facing a hostile world. It is a mesmerising portrait of a dying regime: the final days of Imperial China as they have never been seen before..
To register to attend, please contact communications@hkas.org.uk