Chinese Characters: A BBC History of China in 20 Lives

Twenty audio portraits telling the story of China through key personalities - plus a bonus edition of In Our Time

Award-winning author and historian Professor Rana Mitter introduces us to some of the remarkable individuals who have shaped the arc of Chinese history. Selecting men and women from ancient times to the modern era - some rich and powerful, others poor and unknown - he explores their sensational life stories, from Mongol emperors to 19th-century factory girls.

Here is China's only ...