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 university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He was educated at

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and has been married to

Jung Chang Jung Chang (, ; born 25 March 1952) is a Chinese-born British author. She is best known for her family autobiography ''Wild Swans'', selling over 10 million copies worldwide but Censorship in China, banned in the China, People's Republic of Ch ...

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

International relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

academic and writer Fred Halliday. 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 (film industry), Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. However, he also directed comedies, westerns, and war f ...

. 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 wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

, West London, researched and wrote a biography of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

, '' 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 Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

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

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

1973), (with Gavan McCormack) * ''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
' (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) * '' Mao: The Unknown Story'' (Jonathan Cape 2005), (with Jung Chang)

References

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