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Organised by the Manchester China Institute and Creative Manchester, University of Manchester

Du Fu (712-70) is one of China’s greatest poets. His career coincided with periods of famine, war and huge upheaval, yet his secular philosophical vision, combined with his empathy for the common folk of his nation, ensured that he soon became revered. Like Shakespeare or Dante, his poetry resonates in a timeless manner that ensures it is always relevant and offers something new to the modern generation.

Now, in this beautifully illustrated book, broadcaster and historian Michael Wood follows in his footsteps to try to understand the places that inspired Du Fu to write some of the most famous and best-loved poetry the world has known. The themes he wrote about – friendship, family, human suffering – are universal and in our troubled times are just as relevant as they were almost 1,300 years ago.

Michael Wood is a historian, broadcaster and author. He was appointed Professor of Public History at The University of Manchester in 2013. His special academic interest is in Anglo-Saxon history, and the origins of the English monarchy and state in the tenth century. Michael is the author of several highly praised books on English history and well over one hundred documentary films, among them In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, The Story of China and The Story of India which the Wall Street Journal described as ‘the gold standard’ of documentary history making’. Michael was awarded the Historical Association’s Medlicott Medal for outstanding services to history, and received the British Academy’s President’s Medal (2015) for outreach in history.