Rana Mitter (History, St Cross College) is a renowned historian who specialises in the emergence of nationalism within China. His most recent book, China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism (2020) was named both a Foreign Affairs Book of the Year and a Spectator Book of the Year. For most of its history, China frowned on public discussion of the war against Japan. But as the country has grown more powerful, a wide-ranging reassessment of the war years has been central to new confidence abroad and mounting nationalism at home. Mitter explores China’s assertion of its position as the creator and protector of the international order that emerged from the war – an order, China argues, under threat today largely from the US. Beijing’s radical reassessment of its collective memory of the war has created a new foundation for a people destined to shape the world… but what does that mean for our past, present and future? We look forward to seeing you there!