The video counterpart to Philip Short’s monumental book Mao: A Life, this four-part series guides viewers through the dynamic, innovative, and brutal accomplishments of the revolutionary Chinese leader. Short—a BBC and Times of London foreign correspondent assigned to China immediately after Mao Zedong’s death in 1976—serves as the series’ writer and narrator, providing the same rigor and panoramic scope that enriches his biography.

But these programs go where no book can: into a trove of film and video materials kept secret for decades by Chinese authorities, and—through interviews granted exclusively to the filmmakers—into face-to-face meetings with the last surviving members of Mao’s inner circle. Viewers will encounter a spellbinding view of 20th-century Chinese history, as well as a glimpse of the country’s future.

Members of Mao’s family, including his daughter-in-law and granddaughter, describe life in the Chairman’s home, while Sidney Rittenberg, an American scholar who worked alongside Mao, reflects on his harrowing experiences. Mao’s chief bodyguard, his doctor, and two former Politburo officials who took part in the Long March of 1934-35 share their wealth of knowledge and observations. Other staff members attached to Mao’s private office illuminate the Chairman’s cloistered but momentous twilight years.

For students of Mao’s era, this series may well represent the most powerful learning tool available. Its four-part structure is organized around major phases of the leader’s life and career, with generous attention given to Mao’s influence on today’s China. Not available in French-speaking Canada. 4-part series, 60 minutes each.