Winfried Scharlau

In the mid-1990s, Alexander Grothendieck, a genius mathematician, retired for good. We lose track. Winner of the Fields Medal (the equivalent of the Nobel Prize), this man had brought to the mathematical world one of his greatest theoretical advances. Its intellectual domination was assured. But in 1988 he turned down the Crafoord Prize and its million and a half dollars.

This series presents the definitive history of the Cultural Revolution, its background, and aftermath, blending an incredible array of documentary footage with discussion by Chinese contemporaries, diplomats, and scholars, including Roxanne Witke, the only Westerner to interview Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing.