New China, new world: a preface -- The word: how autocrats hijack our language -- The weapon: how terror and law complement each other -- The pen: how propaganda works -- The net: how the Party learned to love the internet -- The clean sheet: why the people have to forget -- The mandate from heaven: how the Party elected an emperor -- The dream: how Karl Marx and Confucius are being resurrected, hand in hand with the great nation -- The eye: how the Party is updating its rule with artificial intelligence -- The new man: how Big Data and a social credit system are meant to turn people into good subjects -- The subject: how dictatorship warps minds -- The iron house: how a few defiant citizens are refuting the lies -- The gamble when power stands in its own way -- The illusion: how everyone imagines their own China -- The world: how China exerts its influence -- The future: when all roads lead to Beijing.