As a youth in the 1920s, Li Lisan fled rural China for the seductive charms of Paris, where he met his aristocratic Russian wife Lisa. Here he joined the Communist Party and returned to China to become the first Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and a key member of the Russian and Chinese revolutions. He rivalled Mao Zedong for this position and was to later suffer terribly at his hands.

The Red Empires moves between Paris, Russia and China, giving a highly evocative account of the cultural revolution as Russia and China moved apart in the 1960s.