Red Memory by Tania Branigan 

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Red Memory by Tania Branigan: 4: 'We were all idealistic.'

Red Memory by Tania Branigan

4: 'We were all idealistic.'

BBC Radio 4 - Red Memory by Tania Branigan, 4: 'We were all idealistic.'

A hauntingly powerful account of the Cultural Revolution by the Guardian's Tania Branigan.

A group of former 'Educated Youth' workers mourn the lost years of their youths, in Tania Branigan's haunting account of China's notorious Cultural Revolution.

A hauntingly powerful exploration of China's Cultural Revolution through the stories of those who lived through Mao's decade of madness.

Mao's 1966 Cultural Revolution heralded a decade of hysteria, violence and relentless persecution. Teenagers were turned against adults, even parents. Party officials, artists, teachers and intellectuals were publicly humiliated, beaten and even murdered after vicious 'struggle sessions'.

Yet China's bloodiest decade is now barely mentioned, and both victims and perpetrators still live with this unspoken trauma. Now, after forty years of silence, Tania Branigan hears their stories.

Today: a group of former 'Educated Youth' workers mourn the lost years of their youths spent in hardship and suffering out in the Chinese countryside.

Writer: Tania Branigan is the Guardian's foreign leader writer, and was the Guardian's China correspondent for seven years.
Reader: Chipo Chung 
Producer: Justiine Willett
Abridger: Katrin Williams

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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A powerful exploration of China's Cultural Revolution from the Guardian's Tania Branigan.

Book of the Week. A powerful exploration of China's Cultural Revolution from the Guardian's Tania Branigan. Rarely heard stories of those who lived through Mao's decade of madness.

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Red Memory by Tania Branigan

4: 'We were all idealistic.'

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