A century ago something remarkable happened in Shanghai. At the time, it was doubtless an obscure event: even if it hadn't been held in strictest secrecy few would have attributed much significance to this gathering of intellectuals and radicals.

But they would have been wrong.

Inspired by new ideas that heralded a world of new possibilities, these young men – the first members of the Communist Party of China - were about to begin a political movement destined to throw off the shackles of imperialism and feudalism and rejuvenate a great nation.