Wang Youfen (1927-2018) was a renowned Chinese journalist, translator, editor and publisher in a career that paralleled the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the development of its official international communications organization. Starting in 1950 as an assistant editor of the International Press bureau in Beijing, he rose up to be Deputy Editor of the Foreign Languages Press and Editor-in-Chief of the PRC's English Language Weekly News magazine, The Beijing Review. Forced into early retirement by the Chinese government in 1990, he spent his remaining years devoted to translating, editing, and publishing works to enhance free expression and mutual understanding and respect among peoples.

Robin Radin (b1941) collaborated with Wang Youfen in the editing of the book and its preparation for publication. Mr. Radin taught Japanese and Chinese history in the early 1970s at the University of Miami following studies at the University of Chicago, UC-Berkeley, and Kyoto University. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1979 he has pursued his involvement with Asia as an international lawyer and businessman.

Michel Bonnin, author of the Foreword, is Professor Emeritus of the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris, France, and the founding director of China Perspectives magazine. He is the author of the celebrated book on the zhiqing program, The Lost Generation: The Rustication of China's Educated Youth (1962-1980), published in four editions: French (2004), Chinese: Hong Kong and Beijing, and English (Hong Kong: 2013). This book is widely recognized as the most thorough and authoritative historical study of the zhiqing program.