Jon Halliday (born 28 June 1939) is an Irish historian specialising in modern Asia. He was formerly a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. He was educated at

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and has been married to

Jung Chang Jung Chang (, , born 25 March 1952) is a Chinese-British writer now living in London, best known for her family autobiography ''Wild Swans'', selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in the People's Republic of China. Her 832-page ...

since 1991. Halliday is the older brother of the late Irish

International relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

academic and writer

Fred Halliday Simon Frederick Peter Halliday (22 February 1946 – 26 April 2010) was an Irish writer and academic specialising in International Relations and the Middle East, with particular reference to the Cold War, Iran, and the Arabian peninsula. Biogra ...

. Halliday has written or edited eight books, including a long interview with the U.S. film-maker

Douglas Sirk Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. Sirk started his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left fo ...

. In addition, he and his wife,

, with whom he lives in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...

, West London, researched and wrote a biography of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

, '' Mao: the Unknown Story''. The book was highly praised in the popular press, and also elicited some controversy. ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' reported that while few commentators disputed it, "some of the world's most eminent scholars of modern Chinese history" had referred to the book as "a gross distortion of the records." Some scholars offered measured praise of the range of scholarship, but more prevalent criticism on factual accuracy, methodology, and use of sources. Historian Rebecca Karl summarized its negative reception, writing, "According to many reviewers of 'Mao: The Unknown Story'' the story told therein is unknown because Chang and Halliday substantially fabricated it or exaggerated it into existence."

Bibliography

* ''Sirk on Sirk: Interviews with Jon Halliday'' (Secker & Warburg 1971), * (with

Gavan McCormack Gavan McCormack is a researcher specializing in East Asia who is Emeritus Professor and Visiting Fellow, Division of Pacific and Asian History of the Australian National University. He is also a coordinator of an award-winning open access journal ...

) * ''Japanese Imperialism Today: "Co-prosperity in Greater East Asia"'' (

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

1973), (with

) * ''The Psychology of Gambling'' (Allen Lane 1974), (ed. with Peter Fuller) * ''A Political History of Japanese Capitalism'' (Monthly Review 1975), * ''The Artful Albanian: The Memoirs of

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

'' (Chatto & Windus 1986), (ed.) * ''Mme Sun Yat-sen (Soong Ching-ling)'' (Penguin 1986), (with Jung Chang) * ''Korea: The Unknown War'' (Viking 1988), (with

Bruce Cumings Bruce Cumings (born September 5, 1943) is an American historian of East Asia, professor, lecturer and author. He is the Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in History, and the former chair of the history department at ...

) * '' Mao: The Unknown Story'' (Jonathan Cape 2005), (with Jung Chang)

References

1939 births Academics of King's College London British biographers British historians Living people Historians of the Cultural Revolution {{UK-historian-stub