An intimate, deeply reported investigation into the battle over identity in China, chronicling the state oppression of those who fail to conform to Xi Jinping's definition of who is "Chinese," from an award-winning NPR correspondent.“Emily Feng’s focus on ordinary people—bravely determined to shape their own lives—captures the mood of the Xi Jinping era more essentially than reams of statistics ever can.”—Evan Osnos, National Book Award winner, author of Age of AmbitionThe rise of China and its great power competition with the U.S. will be one of the defining issues of our generation. But to understand modern China, one has to understand the people who live there – and the way the Chinese state is trying to control them along lines of identity and free expression.In vivid, cinematic detail, Let Only Red Flowers Bloom tells the stories of nearly two dozen people who are pushing back. They include a Uyghur family, separated as China detains hundreds of thousands of their fellow Uyghurs in camps; human rights lawyers fighting to defend civil liberties in the face of mammoth odds; a teacher from Inner Mongolia, forced to make hard choices because of his support of his mother tongue; and a Hong Kong fugitive trying to find a new home and live in freedom. Reporting despite the personal risks, journalist Emily Feng reveals dramatic human stories of resistance and survival in a country that is increasingly closing itself off to the world. Feng illustrates what it is like to run against the grain in China, and the myriad ways people are trying to survive, with dignity. Read more

The author of Vermeer’s Hat shares “a dizzying and exhilarating journey” through 800 years of Chinese history and national identity (New Statesman).China is one of the oldest states in the world. It achieved its approximate borders with the Ascendancy of the Yuan dynasty in the thirteenth century and has maintained them ever since—through the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Republic, the Occupation, and Communism. Yet China has never been alone in the world. It has had to contend with invaders as well as foreign traders and imperialists. Its rulers for the majority of the last eight centuries have not been Chinese.China became a mega-state not by conquering others, Timothy Brook contends, but rather by being conquered by others and then claiming right of succession to the empires of those Great States. What the Mongols and Manchu ruling families wrought, the Chinese ruling families of the Ming, the Republic, and the People’s Republic, have perpetuated. Yet the idea of a naturally Chinese ‘fatherland’ persists to this day. In The Great State, Brook examines China’s relationship with the world at large for the first time, from the Yuan through to the present, by following the stories of ordinary and extraordinary people navigating the spaces where China met, and continues to meet, the world. Read more

Are you fascinated by the myths and legends of ancient cultures? A lover of history who wants to learn more about China’s rich, unique past? This book is for you.China was a major player in the ancient world, contributing to advancements across the globe. While the civilization is most known for the wise teachings of Confucius and the tenets of Taoism, Chinese culture has also relied heavily on its own mythology and folklore.From gods and goddesses to paranormal encounters with ordinary people, the stories in this book have been passed down from generation to generation for centuries.With their own creation myth and explanations of the elements and natural world, the folklore of the Chinese civilization provides both wisdom and excitement.Whether you’re well-versed in the myths of other ancient civilizations like Greece, Egypt, and Rome or a beginner looking to expand your knowledge, this book will serve as your all-inclusive guide to Chinese mythology.In Uncovering Chinese Mythology: A Beginner’s Guide Into the World of Chinese Myths, Enchanting Tales, Folklore, Legendary Heroes, Gods, Divine Beings, and Mythical Creatures, you will discover the stories of:The foundation of Chinese civilization.The creation of all life on Earth.Mythological creatures and part-humans.Animal spirits.Emperors and cultural heroes.Folklore with deep meaning and moral lessons.Gods and goddesses of the natural world.And countless other important tales.The world of Chinese mythology is filled with wisdom, beauty, and a desire to explain both natural and supernatural phenomena.If you’re ready to begin your journey into the past, pick up your copy of Uncovering Chinese Mythology: A Beginner’s Guide Into the World of Chinese Myths, Enchanting Tales, Folklore, Legendary Heroes, Gods, Divine Beings, and Mythical Creatures today! Read more

Hong Kong is the world’s most exciting city, at once fascinating and exasperating, a tangle of contradictions. It is a dazzling amalgam of conspicuous consumption and primitive poverty, the most architecturally incongruous yet undeniably beautiful urban panorama of all. Through firsthand reportage, world-renowned travel writer Jan Morris takes us through the crowded streets of this enigmatic city, offering the most insightful and comprehensive study of Hong Kong thus far. She reviews Hong Kong’s early days as a British opium port controlled by pirates, cutthroats, and scoundrel tycoons, and looks ahead to the city’s future as part of the People’s Republic of China. Read more

The diaries of the last British Governor of Hong Kong, published on the 25th anniversary of the handoverIn June 1992 Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor, to try to prepare it not (as other British colonies over the decades) for independence, but for handing back in 1997 to the Chinese, from whom most of its territory had been leased 99 years previously. Over the next five years he kept this diary, which describes in detail how Hong Kong was run as a British colony and what happened as the handover approached. The book gives unprecedented insights into negotiating with the Chinese, about how the institutions of democracy in Hong Kong were (belatedly) strengthened and how Patten sought to ensure that a strong degree of self-government would continue after 1997. Unexpectedly, his opponents included not only the Chinese themselves, but some British businessmen and civil service mandarins upset by Patten's efforts, for whom political freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong seemed less important than keeping on the right side of Beijing. The book concludes with an account of what has happened in Hong Kong since the handover, a powerful assessment of recent events and Patten's reflections on how to deal with China - then and now. Read more

When the British occupied the tiny island of Hong Kong during the First Opium War, the Chinese empire was well into its decline, while Great Britain was already in the second decade of its legendary "Imperial Century." From this collision of empires arose a city that continues to intrigue observers. Melding Chinese and Western influences, Hong Kong has long defied easy categorization. John M. Carroll's engrossing and accessible narrative explores the remarkable history of Hong Kong from the early 1800s through the post-1997 handover, when this former colony became a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The book explores Hong Kong as a place with a unique identity, yet also a crossroads where Chinese history, British colonial history, and world history intersect. Carroll concludes by exploring the legacies of colonial rule, the consequences of Hong Kong's reintegration with China, and significant developments and challenges since 1997. Read more

Why are activists in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Burma willing to court danger to help one another? The political situations in Burma, Thailand, and Hong Kong are radically different. Only Burma is in a state of civil war. Only Hong Kong has changed in just a few years from a place with virtually no political prisoners to one with many. Only Thailand is a monarchy with lèse-majesté laws. Yet, many young activists and exiles from these regions feel that their struggles are connected. Historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom met dozens of dissidents, including Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, known for his protests against compulsory Thai military service; Agnes Chow, co-founder of a political party now banned in Hong Kong; and Ye Myint Win (aka Nickey Diamond), who fled to Germany from Burma in the early 2020s, fearing reprisal from the junta for his human rights work. Activists like these three express solidarity with one another online and on the streets, and sometimes refer to themselves as belonging to the “Milk Tea Alliance,” a nod to their shared opposition to nationalistic Beijing loyalists and the fact that their cultures' iconic drinks contain dairy, unlike mainland China’s traditional tea. How do these activists, each facing their unique situations, find common ground and sustain one another? Wasserstrom traveled globally to interview members of this loosely constituted alliance, meeting some in Asia and others in exile, finding them united by democratic values, shared concerns over autocrats, and the rising influence of a common adversary—the Chinese Communist Party. Read more

Through the eyes of two frontline journalists comes a gripping narrative history of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement centered around a cast of four core activists, culminating in the 2019 mass protests and Beijing's brutal crackdown.  Hong Kong was an experiment in governance. Handed back to China in 1997 after 156 years of British rule, it was meant to be a carve-out between hostile systems: a bridge between communism and capitalism, authoritarianism and liberal democracy. “One country, two systems” kept its media free, its courts independent and its protests boisterous, designed also to convince Taiwan of a peaceful solution to Beijing’s desire for reunification. Yet this formulation excluded Hong Kong’s own people, their future negotiated by political titans in faraway capitals. In 2019, an ill-conceived law spear-headed by a sycophantic leader pushed millions to take to the streets in one of the most enduring protest movements the world has ever seen. Xi Jinping responded with a draconian national security law that sought not only to end the demonstrations but quash the “problem” of Hong Kongers’ identity and desire for freedom. Reverend Chu, who believed Hong Kong had to carry the spirit of students at Tiananmen Square, saw his silver-haired comrades who birthed the city’s modern pro-democracy movement handcuffed and taken from their homes. Tommy, an art student radicalized into throwing Molotov cocktails, watched “braves” like him brutalized by police before his own arrest prompted him to flee. Finn epitomized the decentralized nature of the movement and its internet-fueled victories, but online anonymity couldn’t stop his life from unravelling. Gwyneth could predict her eventual fate when she chose to give up her career as a journalist to stand for election as an opposition candidate, and did it anyway. In Among the Braves, Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin tell the story of Hong Kong’s past, and what the sacrifices of its people mean for global democracy’s shaky foundation. Read more

China's imperial history, spanning millennia, can feel overwhelming. Where does one even begin to grasp the complexities of emperors, dynasties, and the vast sweep of events that shaped one of the world's oldest civilizations? This book offers a clear and insightful guide, providing a framework for understanding this intricate period through the lens of the dynastic cycle. Rather than a dry recitation of facts and figures, it delves into the underlying patterns that characterized each dynasty's rise and fall. From the legendary Xia to the final days of the Qing, the book explores the recurring themes of mandate, rebellion, and reform. It examines how each new dynasty rose to power, claiming divine favor and promising peace and prosperity. It then analyzes how internal pressures, corruption, and external threats gradually eroded that mandate, leading to unrest, uprisings, and ultimately the dynasty's collapse. This cyclical pattern provides a powerful tool for navigating the complexities of Chinese history, allowing readers to connect seemingly disparate events into a cohesive narrative. This book goes beyond simply outlining the dynastic cycle. It explores the key figures, philosophical influences, and cultural achievements of each era. Readers will discover the legacy of Confucianism, the impact of the Silk Road, the development of innovative technologies, and the flourishing of art and literature. The narrative is brought to life through vivid descriptions of court life, military campaigns, and the everyday experiences of the people who lived through these tumultuous times. Furthermore, it examines the factors that contributed to both the longevity and the eventual decline of each dynasty. From the enduring stability of the Han to the fragmented era of the Warring States, and from the cosmopolitan Tang to the foreign-ruled Yuan and Qing, the book explores the unique circumstances that shaped each period. It analyzes the effectiveness of different governance strategies, the impact of economic shifts, and the evolving relationship between the rulers and the ruled. By understanding these factors, readers gain a deeper appreciation for the resilience and adaptability of Chinese civilization. By exploring the dynastic cycle, this book provides a powerful framework for understanding not only China's past but also the forces that continue to shape its present and future. Read more

Ever since he came to Hong Kong some 50 years ago, Patrick Hase has researched the local history of Hong Kong, and especially of the New Territories villages and market towns. Written documentation for the study of these communities has been lacking, so much of the research was conducted by way of oral interviews with village elders, conducted during 1980s and 1990s, seeking their memories of what the villages were like in their youth, a century and more ago, and what they remembered of what their grandparents had told them of the history of the community before modernization, urbanization, and high-technology changed those communities forever. Read more

Both Yuk-ling, a busy Hong Kong mother of two, and Chi-ying, a young single woman from a remote village in northern China, work in electronics factories owned by the same foreign corporation, manufacturing identical electronic components. After a decade of job growth and increasing foreign investment in Hong Kong and South China, both women are also participating in the spectacular economic transformation that has come to be called the South China miracle. Yet, as Ching Kwan Lee demonstrates in her unique and fascinating study of women workers on either side of the Chinese-Hong Kong border, the working lives and factory cultures of these women are vastly different.In this rich comparative ethnography, Lee describes how two radically different factory cultures have emerged from a period of profound economic change. In Hong Kong, "matron workers" remain in factories for decades. In Guangdong, a seemingly endless number of young "maiden workers" travel to the south from northern provinces, following the promise of higher wages. Whereas the women in Hong Kong participate in a management system characterized by "familial hegemony," the young women in Guangdong find an internal system of power based on regional politics and kin connections, or "localistic despotism."Having worked side-by-side with these women on the floors of both factories, Lee concludes that it is primarily the differences in the gender politics of the two labor markets that determine the culture of each factory. Posing an ambitious challenge to sociological theories that reduce labor politics to pure economics or state power structures, Lee argues that gender plays a crucial role in the cultures and management strategies of factories that rely heavily on women workers. Read more

Brought to life by the personal accounts of six Navy pilots and one British POW, this is the history of the U.S. Navy airstrikes on Japanese-held Hong Kong.Commander John Lamade started the war in 1941 a nervous pilot of an antiquated biplane. Just over three years later he was in the cockpit of a cutting-edge Hellcat about to lead a strike force of 80 aircraft through the turbulent skies above the South China Sea. His target: Hong Kong. As a storm of antiaircraft fire darkened the sky, watching from below was POW Ray Jones. For three long years he and his fellow prisoners had endured near starvation conditions in a Japanese internment camp. Did these American aircraft, he wondered, herald freedom?Trawling through historic records, Steven K. Bailey discovered that the story of the U.S. Navy airstrikes on Japanese-held Hong Kong during the final year of World War II had never been told. Operation Gratitude involved nearly 100 U.S. Navy warships and close to a thousand planes. Target Hong Kong brings this massive operation down to a human scale by recounting the air raids through the experiences of seven men whose lives intersected at Hong Kong in January 1945: Commander John D. Lamade, five of his fellow U.S. Navy pilots and the POW Ray Jones. Drawing upon oral histories, diary transcripts, and U.S. Navy documents, this book expertly narrates the intertwined experiences of these servicemen to bring the history to life. Read more

'A masterpiece of research, The Last Kings of Shanghai is a vivid and fascinating story of wealth, family intrigue, and political strategy on the world stage from colonialism to communism to globalized capitalism' Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth CollegeAn epic, multigenerational story of two rival dynasties who flourished in Shanghai and Hong Kong as twentieth-century China surged into the modern eraShanghai, 1936. The Cathay Hotel, located on the city's famous waterfront, is one of the most glamorous in the world. Built by Victor Sassoon - billionaire playboy and scion of the Sassoon dynasty - the hotel hosts a who's who of global celebrities: Noel Coward has written a draft of Private Lives in his suite, Charlie Chaplin entertained his wife-to-be, and the American socialite Wallis Simpson reportedly posed for 'glamour' photographs. A few miles away, Mao and the nascent Communist party have been plotting revolution before being forced to flee the city.By the 1930s, the Sassoons had been doing business in China for a century, rivaled in wealth and influence by only one other dynasty - the Kadoories. These two Jewish families, both originally from Baghdad, stood astride Chinese business and politics for more than one hundred and seventy five years, profiting from the Opium Wars; surviving Japanese occupation; courting Chiang Kai-shek; and nearly losing everything as the Communists swept into power. In Kings of Shanghai, Jonathan Kaufman tells the remarkable history of how these families ignited an economic boom and opened China to the world, but remained blind to the country's deep inequality and to the political turmoil on their doorsteps. In a story stretching from Baghdad to Hong Kong to Shanghai to London, Kaufman enters the lives and minds of these ambitious men and women to forge a tale of opium smuggling, family rivalry, political intrigue and survival. Read more

Wild Swans meets Educated in this riveting true story spanning four generations'Revelatory and remarkable' - TRENT DALTON'Memorable and vivid' - RICHARD GLOVER'Lands with a thump in your heart' - LISA MILLAR'Heartbreaking and uplifting' - MEAGHAN WILSON ANASTASIOS'An heroic saga' - MIKE MUNRO'A must read!!' - AMY WANG'Mimi's storytelling ability rivals many of my friends at Pixar!!' - DUNCAN WARDLE'Enter on a journey that traverses culture and time...' - SIMON HENGThe dragon circles and swoops ... a tiger running alone in the night ...Mimi Kwa ignored the letter for days. When she finally opened it, the news was so shocking her hair turned grey. Why would a father sue his own daughter?The collision was over the estate of Mimi's beloved Aunt Theresa, but its seed had been sown long ago. In an attempt to understand how it had come to this, Mimi unspools her rich family history in House of Kwa.One of a wealthy silk merchant's 32 children, Mimi's father, Francis, was just a little boy when the Kwa family became caught up in the brutal and devastating Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. Years later, he was sent to study in Australia by his now independent and successful older sister Theresa. There he met and married Mimi's mother, a nineteen-year-old with an undiagnosed, chronic mental illness. Soon after, 'tiger' Mimi arrived, and her struggle with the past - and the dragon - began ...Riveting, colourful and often darkly humorous, House of Kwa is an epic family drama spanning four generations, and an unforgettable story about how one woman finds the courage to stand up for her freedom and independence, squaring off against the ghosts of the past and finally putting them to rest. Throughout, her inspiration is Francis's late older sister, the jet-setting, free-spirited Aunt Theresa, whose extraordinary life is a beacon of hope in the darkness.PRAISE FOR HOUSE OF KWA'House of Kwa enchants and enthrals like the best kind of sweeping, dynastic fiction, but it rattles the bones and breaks the heart with the pure facts of Mimi Kwa's extraordinary story. Revelatory and remarkable storytelling.' Trent Dalton'Personal and gut wrenching. Mimi lays her heart out on the page and bravely invites you inside her generation spanning tale. This is a book about forgiveness, empathy and compassion. A must read!!' Amy Wang, writer Crazy Rich Asians 2'Anyone who knows me knows that I don't recommend books unless I LOVE them. House of Kwa is a rare work of non-fiction which balances page turning prose with lyrical depth. Do yourself and everyone you know a favour and dive in!' Megan Rogers, author The Heart is a Star'An astonishing true tale that leaps across centuries and cultures to land with a thump in your heart.' Lisa Millar'A startling tale of the past, its terrible grip on the present, and the battle to set yourself free. Full of scenes that hover between tragedy and farce, House of Kwa is one of the most compelling stories you'll read this year. Memorable and vividly told, this is a book for anybody forced to survive their own parents.' Richard Glover'From the back streets of China to war-torn Hong Kong to suburban Australia, this is an heroic saga that reveals just some of the stories behind the multi-cultural nation we are today.' Mike Munro AO'This is a charming and compelling story, an insight into a deeply traditional Chinese family in times when China was undergoing internally and externally induced upheaval.' South China Morning Post'A rich and riveting read which heralds a new chapter in Kwa's life as a writer. The spirited tiger, full of life and driven to achieve, has many stories to tell yet.' The Weekend Australian'House of Kwa answers the question of how one should write about one's family with generosity and love - to read it is to experience Kwa's wonder at the strength and resilience of her family, as well as the intimacy of her relationships with them. Traversing the boundaries of a traditional memoir, House of Kwa is the biography of a family that explores the way our lives are shaped by the past we can and cannot remember.' Kill Your Darlings'An utterly captivating, gripping and inspirational tale of one woman's triumph over adversity. In this extraordinary multi-generational memoir, Kwa fearlessly grapples with questions of love, loyalty, and the power of the human spirit. Intimate and revelatory, House of Kwa is the most heart-breaking and uplifting book I have read in years and announces the arrival of an exciting writer.' Meaghan Wilson Anastasios'If you're a fan of the book Educated by Tara Westover, as I am, and most readers I know are, then you have to read this.' Joan McKenzie, Joan's Picks, Whitcoulls'Mimi's narrative about their family life is heart-breaking, hilarious, and often unbelievable.' Magic talk FM'An exotic journey that takes readers through the contributions Chinese immigrants have made to multicultural Australia.' ABC Nightlife'Kwa is an engaging storyteller.' Asian Review of Books'Extraordinary - I couldn't put it down. Wonderfully written, this intriguing family story reads like a page-turning novel. The journey of the Kwa dynasty and its legacy is told in such rich, colourful detail, you feel like you are there. I loved it.' Sue Smethurst'I laughed, I grieved, I was intrigued. It took enormous strength to write this story of trauma, abuse, mental health, dislocation, racism and reinvention. Above all it is a story of love and kindness. It will resonate with so many people.' Kirsty Manning'Mimi's storytelling ability rivals many of my friends at Pixar!! She draws us in to her world and allows us to peak behind the curtains of an often very painful childhood, bringing each character to life with heartfelt empathy. A story of resilience and rebirth as Mimi overcomes incredible odds to not only survive but thrive and in doing so exudes a wonderful sense of humour and extraordinary compassion.' Duncan Wardle, CEO ID8, Former Head of Disney Creativity'Enter on a journey that traverses culture and time and the capacity of the human heart to forgive. House of Kwa will have you connecting with your own humanity.' Simone Heng - Let's Talk About Loneliness Read more

The story of Hong Kong has long been obscured by competing myths: to Britain, a ‘barren rock’ with no appreciable history; to China, a part of Chinese soil from time immemorial that had at last returned to the ancestral fold. To its inhabitants, the city was a place of refuge and rebellion, whose own history was so little taught that they began mythmaking their own past. When protests erupted in 2019 and were met with escalating suppression from Beijing, Louisa Lim—raised in Hong Kong as a half-Chinese, half-English child, and now a reporter who had covered the region for a decade—realised that she was uniquely positioned to unearth Hong Kong’s untold stories. Lim’s deeply researched and personal account is startling, casting new light on key moments: the British takeover in 1842, the negotiations over the 1997 return to China, and the future Beijing seeks to impose. Indelible City features guerrilla calligraphers, amateur historians and archaeologists who, like Lim, aim to put Hong Kongers at the centre of their own story. Wending through it all is the King of Kowloon, whose iconic street art both embodied and inspired the identity of Hong Kong—a site of disappearance and reappearance, power and powerlessness, loss and reclamation.Louisa Lim is the author of The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited (2014), which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. She covered China and Hong Kong for a decade as a correspondent for the BBC and NPR, and has reported for the New York Times, Washington Post and Guardian. Raised in Hong Kong, she lives in Australia with her two children and teaches at the University of Melbourne.‘The best book about the indelible city to date. Irresistibly real and emotionally authentic, it shines with a shimmering light rarely seen in political narrative. A truly extraordinary elegy.’ Ai Weiwei‘Indelible City dismantles the received wisdom about Hong Kong’s history and replaces it with an engaging, exhaustively researched account of its long struggle for sovereignty.’ New York Times‘The book is a celebration of an exceptional city and its colourful characters, particularly an eccentric artist known as the “King of Kowloon”. But reading it was also a mourning process for those—like me—who share the author’s assessment of recent events…Indelible City is an important book which will help keep the city, as many remember it, alive.’ Australian Financial Review‘I absolutely loved this book. Each page is a revelation about a city whose history I thought I knew well. Lim’s exploration of Hong Kong’s identity is insightful, refreshing and entirely original.’ Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy and Eat the Buddha‘I read Louisa Lim’s book slowly, haunted by memories and stymied by sorrow. An archaeological dig into the disappearing present, her fascinating and heartbreaking account reveals an indelible history hidden in plain sight, and a future that Hong Kong’s unique sensibility promises even as the world’s most powerful autocracy strives to erase it.’ Geremie Barmé, editor of China Heritage Read more

The World Today Series: East & Southeast Asia provides historical background on the evolution of Modern East & Southeast Asia to help readers gain a thorough understanding of contemporary developments in this vital region. Broad introductory regional chapters are followed by sections on each country in the region. The combination of factual accuracy and up-to-date detail make this an outstanding resource for researchers, practitioners in international development, media professionals, government officials, potential investors, and students to understand the immediate background of contemporary developments. Read more

Hong Kong is at the heart of modern China's position as a regional - and potential world - superpower. In this important and original history of the region, Steve Tsang argues that its current prosperity is a direct by-product of the British administrators who ran the place as a colony before the handover in 1997. The British administration of Hong Kong uniquely derived its practices from the best traditions of Imperial Chinese government and its philosophical, Confucian basis. It stressed efficiency, honesty, fairness, benevolent paternalism and individual freedom. The result was a hugely successful colony, especially in industry and finance, and it remains so today with its new status of Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Under British imperial administration, Hong Kong grew from a collection of fishing villages to an international entrepot, an industrial power and an international financial centre. British and Chinese interests dovetailed and the Chinese population was satisfied by the welfare reform and economic advancement perpetuated by Britain's administrative officers.Demand for constitutional reform and a sense of Hong Kong Chinese identity grew only as the handover to China approached.This definitive history of the colourful individuals who administered the colony on behalf of the British government sheds light on two empires inextricably linked in nature and on the philosophy of government. Read more

In 1850, China was the "sick man of Asia." Now it is set to become the most powerful nation on earth. The Penguin History of Modern China shows how turbulent that journey has been. For 150 years China has endured as victim of oppression, war, and famine. This makes its current position as arguably the most important global superpower all the more extraordinary.  Read more

Hong Kong has long been a place of great interest to transport enthusiasts. Its mixture of predominantly British-built buses operating in a bustling oriental setting holds endless fascination while Hong Kong Tramways’ 1920s-style tramcars evoke past times in an ultra-modern setting.Changes to Hong Kong’s bus and tram scene during the final twenty-one years of British rule are recounted and illustrated in this book. Included are the decline of the China Motor Bus Company’s operations and the emergence of Citybus Limited as a major player. Vehicles of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company, which claimed to be the world’s largest privately-owned bus company operating in a single city, are depicted at various locations including the New Territories. Bus and light rail transit operations of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation are illustrated as are buses of Argos Bus Services, the Motor Transport Company of Guangdong and Hong Kong, the New Lantao Bus Company, Public Light Buses, Stagecoach (Hong Kong) Limited and operations of the Peak Tramways Company. This book includes pictures of some of the many hundreds of second-hand buses from British operators, such as London Transport, Ribble and Southdown, which were imported into Hong Kong from the 1970s onwards. Read more

A timely, well-researched, and “illuminating” (The New York Times Book Review) new history of Hong Kong that reveals the untold stories of the diverse peoples who have made it a multicultural world metropolis—and whose freedoms are endangered today.Hong Kong has always been many cities to many people: a seaport, a gateway to an empire, a place where fortunes can be dramatically made or lost, a place to disappear and reinvent oneself, and a melting pot of diverse populations from around the globe. A British Crown Colony for 155 years, Hong Kong is now ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. Here, renowned journalist Vaudine England delves into Hong Kong’s complex history and its people—diverse, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan—who have made this one-time fishing village into the world port city it is today. Rather than a traditional history describing a town led by British Governors or a mere offshoot of a collapsing Chinese empire, Fortune’s Bazaar is “a winning portrait of Hong Kong’s vibrant mosaic” (Publishers Weekly). While British traders and Asian merchants had long been busy in the Indian and South East Asian seas, many people from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds arrived in Hong Kong, met, and married—despite all taboos—and created a distinct community. Many of Hong Kong’s most influential figures during its first century as a city were neither British nor Chinese—they were Malay or Indian, Jewish or Armenian, Parsi or Portuguese, Eurasian or Chindian—or simply, Hong Kongers. England describes those overlooked in history, including the opium traders who built synagogues and churches; ship owners carrying gold-rush migrants; the half-Dutch, half-Chinese gentleman with two wives who was knighted by Queen Victoria; and the gardeners who settled Kowloon, the mainland peninsula facing the island of Hong Kong, and became millionaires. A story of empire, race, and sex, Fortune’s Bazaar presents a “fresh…essential” (Ian Buruma), “formidable and important” (The Correspondent) history of a special place—a unique city made by diverse people of the world, whose part in its creation has never been properly told until now. Read more