He is the author of several books, among them the biographies of Mao Zedong, Mao: A Life published in 1999, Mao: The Man Who Made China in 2017, Pol Pot, Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare, and François Mitterrand, A Taste for Intrigue: The Multiple Lives of François Mitterrand.
Ia merupakan pengarang sejumlah buku, salah satu diantaranya adalah biografi Mao Zedong, Mao: A Life, Pol Pot, Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare, dan François Mitterrand, A Taste for Intrigue: The Multiple Lives of François Mitterrand.