In late 1995, the drama Heaven Above (Cangtian zaishang) debuted on Chinese TV. Featuring a villainous high-ranking government official, it was the first in a series of wildly popular corruption dramas that riveted the nation. Staging Corruption looks at the rise, fall, and reincarnation of corruption dramas and the ways in which they express the collective dreams and nightmares of China in the market-reform era. It also considers how these dramas – as products of the interplay between television stations, production companies, media regulation, and political censorship – unveil complicated relationships between power, media, and society. This book is essential reading for those following China's ongoing struggles with the highly volatile socio-political issue of corruption.

Ruoyun Bai's profile page

• Long-listed, ICAS Book Prize, International Convention of Asia Scholars

Ruoyun Bai is an assistant professor of media studies and comparative literature at the University of Toronto.