Chinese perspectives of the early atomic age, before the emergence of the People's Republic of China in 1949, remain poorly understood, especially within the International Relations field. Historical accounts have largely drawn from American, British and Soviet sources. This research, based on a British Academy Research Grant (SG171630), starts in 1945, when atomic weapons were first used by the United States against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

The last decade has seen a surge of interest in economic inequality and widely read books about its social and political consequences by Thomas Piketty, Anthony Atkinson, and Larry Bartels. Yet most scholarship focuses on incomes, neglecting the massive inequalities that exist and are widening in the ownership of assets: from residential to financial wealth.

A panel discussion on the subject of a new special issue of the Journal of International Affairs, guest-edited by Margaret MacMillan, Anand Menon and Patrick Quinton-Brown.

A drinks reception will follow.

Chair: Jane Gingrich, Magdalen College