Life of Romain Rolland

When President Xi Jinping visited Paris last year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France, he confessed to French President Francois Hollande and the assembled crowd that he – like many of us – had been long enamored of things French. Xi – whose interest was sparked by the fact that so many first generation Communist leaders studied in France – waxed euphoric on French history, philosophy, art and literature.