Rana Mitter is Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China and works on the emergence of nationalism in modern China, both in the early twentieth century and in the present era. China has always drawn on its past to learn lessons for the contemporary political scene; he believes that to help us understand the new China, we must look at its past.

Rana is the author of nine books, including Modern China: A Very Short Introduction (2008, new ed. 2016), and the award-winning A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World (2004). His ‘China’s War with Japan, 1937-45: The Struggle for Survival’ was a 2013 Book of the Year in the Financial Times and the Economist, and won the 2014 RUSI/Duke of Westminster’s Medal for Military Literature.

His book ‘China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism’ (Harvard, 2020) is the latest to win accolades.


He was Director of Oxford’s China Centre from its start in 2013 until 2020 in which year Rana received the Norton Medlicott Medal awarded by the Historical Association for outstanding services and current contributions to History.

He presents regularly in programmes on television and radio, commenting on contemporary Chinese politics and society. We are also delighted that Rana is a Hon Member of our Advisory Panel.