An illustrated history of Hong Kong /

Cameron's book is the best overall history to date of the British Colony of Hong Kong. There is a detailed account of the circumstances surrounding the decision by Captain Charles Elliot during the Anglo-Chinese (Opium) War to make Hong Kong a British base on the China coast, as well as an examination of the Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) in August 1842, which formally ceded Hong Kong island to Britain. Hong Kong's remarkable economic progress is studied closely. Sound chapters on the colony's government give special attention to the issues of constitutional reform and the legalization of opium, the plague of 1894, and the acquisition of the "New Territories." Cameron carefully examines the colony's contribution to the British effort during WW I and its political, economic, and social maturation during the interwar decades. Chapters dealing with the Japanese invasion and occupation, and the rehabilitation, growth, and transformation of Hong Kong following WW II are particularly poignant. Finally, there is a very fine analysis of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration in Beijing, by which, in July 1997, British sovereignty will lapse in return for the Chinese communist pledge to maintain capitalism in Hong Kong for at least 50 years. Profusely illustrated, with many valuable character studies, maps, glossary, and comprehensive bibliography. All levels.-W. W. Reinhardt, Randolph-Macon College