Graham Hutchings, University of Oxford and University of Nottingham

1949 was a critical year in the history of China, the growth of international communism and the evolution of the Cold War. It also split the Chinese nation, creating 'two Chinas' - and leaving a legacy with which Chinese leaders and people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, as well as those in the US, Japan and other parts of Asia must contend with today. But China's year of revolution was about more than a shift in national and geopolitics. It affected millions of lives of Chinese people, whether they were 'winners' or 'losers', influential political or military leaders on either side or merely ordinary citizens. It was above all a human story, one of tragedy for some, of triumph for others.