Hong Kong : the road to 1997 /

Buckley's work is perhaps the most deftly written and concise survey of the politics surrounding Hong Kong's peculiar position in the British empire between 1842 and 1997. It sympathetically but critically analyzes the responses of the colonial administration to such crises as the influx of refugees from China in the 1950s, the strains of economic development in the 1960s, civil unrest during China's Cultural Revolution, and the PRC's determination to reclaim Hong Kong on its own terms during the reversion negotiations of the 1980s. The tense final years of British administration following the 1989 Tiananmen massacre receive sophisticated treatment. The book was completed in 1996 before many of the key decisions regarding the reversion had been made, but its discussion of the critical issues facing Hong Kong is insightful nonetheless. The author's sharp focus on officialdom results in superficial analysis of Hong Kong's business elite and population in general, and the place of Hong Kong in China's domestic politics is neglected. The lack of citations, even for direct quotes, and extremely short bibliography make it more appropriate for general readers than for students looking for a starting point for research projects. K. E. Stapleton University of Kentucky