Jon Halliday was born in Dublin in June 1939. He is the author or editor of nine books, including Douglas Sirk (with Laura Mulvey, 1972), as well as works on Japan, Korea, Albania, and the psychology of gambling. From 1970 to 1976 he was a member of the editorial board of Screen magazine. He is the author of Sirk on Sirk and, with his wife Jung Chang, Mao: The Unknown Story.