Timothy Cheek began studying China at the Australian National University in the 1970s and has travelled to China and worked with Chinese colleagues since 1981. After receiving his PhD in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University in 1986 he taught in the US until 2002 when he took up his chair at the University of British Columbia. His research, teaching and translating focus on the recent history of China, especially the role of Chinese intellectuals in the twentieth century and the history of the Chinese Communist Party. His books include Living with Reform: China since 1989 (2006), Mao Zedong and China's Revolutions (2002) and Propaganda and Culture in Mao's China (1997), as well as New Perspectives on State Socialism in China (1997, edited with Tony Saich), The Secret Speeches of Chairman Mao (1989, translated and edited with Roderick MacFarquhar and Eugene Wu), and China's Establishment Intellectuals (1986, edited with Carol Lee Hamrin). Most recently, he has edited A Critical Introduction to Mao (2010) and co-edited with Stuart R. Schram Volume 3 of Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-1949 (2015). In recent years he has been working with some Chinese intellectuals to explore avenues of communication and cooperation to address problems of global change.to Mao (2010) and co-edited with Stuart R.

Schram Volume 3 of Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-1949 (2015). In recent years he has been working with some Chinese intellectuals to explore avenues of communication and cooperation to address problems of global change.