Michael Sheridan - The Red Emperor
The Red Emperor is full of revelations and insights, drawn from decades of reporting and materials such as declassified papers and Chinese documentary material here before foreign readers for the first time.
This event will also be live streamed - you have the option to watch in the venue or online.
TICKET DETAILS
Tickets are now on general sale.
The Season Ticket gives you a guaranteed seat to every event in the festival.
| Date | Saturday 2nd November 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | 1:00 PM | |
| Doors Open | 12:30 PM | |
| Venue | High Street Baptist Church | |
The Red Emperor presents an eye-opening portrait of Xi Jinping, the man who presides over 1.4 billion people and the second largest economy on earth. Born a ‘princeling’ to one of Communist China’s ruling families, the young Xi was exiled to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. He fought his way back to the top by stealth, privilege and guile. In 2012, following the spectacular fall of his rival Bo Xilai, Xi Jinping became the leader of China.
In a compulsively readable narrative, veteran foreign correspondent Michael Sheridan takes the reader from the poor, isolated country of Xi’s youth to the military and economic superpower of today. In Xi’s new China, family mafias struggle for power amid murder, corruption and sex scandals as ministers and generals vanish in purges. No one is safe in his techno-security state. Xi is an absolute ruler whose word is law on everything from war and peace to the ruthless campaign against Covid-19. He aims to dominate world trade, to defeat Western democracy and to make China the supreme power in the East. A loner and a risk-taker, he is the most consequential leader of our time.
Drawing on intimate stories from the closed world of China’s leading families and two decades of first-hand reporting, Michael Sheridan sheds new light on the history and politics of China. The book reveals that behind the façade of the Chinese Communist Party there is a modern dynasty and a new emperor.
About Michael Sheridan
Michael Sheridan first reported from Hong Kong and China in June 1989 and later served as the Far East correspondent of The Sunday Times for 20 years, covering the rise of China, the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and the city's struggle for democracy.
Earlier he worked for Reuters, ITN and the Independent, reporting on war in the Middle East, global diplomacy and European politics, with postings in Rome, Beirut and Jerusalem. His work has also appeared in the Spectator, Tablet and Vanity Fair.