Newspaper headlines describe a China that is uniformly bleak: a slowing economy, tensions with the West, and a surveillance state that seems to have crushed all opposing voices. But in his new book, "Sparks: China's Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future," Ian Johnson presents a more nuanced picture of Xi Jinping's China, one where a vibrant movement of underground filmmakers, magazine publishers and authors challenge the Communist Party on its most important source of legitimacy: its control of history. In this book talk, Ian Johnson introduces us to China's counter-history movement, which echoes struggles in many societies for a more equitable and just accounting of the past.

This public lecture is organized by the 21st Century China Center (21CCC) at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. For more information about this and other 21CCC events, please visit china.ucsd.edu.