Michael Dillon is a historian and writer, who has studied and travelled in China for over 50 years. Currently Professor of History and Affiliate of the Lau China Institute at King's College London, he was previously the Director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at Durham University and Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society, has commented on contemporary Chinese affairs for inter national media, and has been a regular contributor to the Times Literary Supplement and the London Review of Books.

His recent books include China: A Modern History, China in the Age of Xi Jinping, Zhou Enlai: the Enigma behind Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping: the Man Who Made Modern China.