Frank Dikötter

The Great Dictators

What do the tyrants of the 20th century have in common? Terror, confusion and quasi-religious followings.

The Cultural Revolution: A People's History

Mao Zedong’s brutal campaign to purify Communist China, which began in the early 1960s, resulted in a decade of chaos that has left an indelible stain on the nation’s politics.

Chinese History: The Great Leap Backward

Frank Dikötter looks at how historians’ understanding of China has changed in recent years with the gradual opening of party archives that reveal the full horror of the Maoist era.