It was some decade. The universities were closed. Students were at war. Poetry was banned. And the word “love,” unless applied to Mao, was expressly forbidden. Artists were denounced, and many opted for suicide. This is the time — its madness, its passion, its complexity — that Xujun Eberlein brings vividly to life in Apologies Forthcoming, her moving collection of short stories about the millions who lived during China’s Cultural Revolution.

For a prize copy of the book, answer me this: In which decade did the Cultural Revolution begin?

Answers to mail (at) blacksmithbooks.com, and the first three correct answers win the prize. Hong Kong and China postal addresses only.