Review by Choice Review
This book fills a longstanding need for a contemporary scholarly history of British rule in Hong Kong that balances British sources and viewpoints with Chinese documents. Readable and authoritative, Tsang's text offers a useful reference for libraries and an edifying synthesis for scholars of East Asia. The framing of history according to state action and changes in British rule avoids some questions that have concerned Chinese analysts, especially those raised by pre-British Chinese populations and their continuities. Beginning with the Opium Wars, Tsang (St Antony's College, Univ. of Oxford) carefully explains the colonial political and economic structures that took shape before WW II, including Hong Kong's intersections with a changing China. Most of the book covers the aftermath of the Japanese occupation and the 1949 Chinese Revolution, events that underpinned continuing transformations in economy, society, and politics after the 1950s and 1960s. The text pays special attention to the complex diplomacy leading up to Hong Kong's 1997 handover, focusing on the interplay of Britain and China (including the emergence of any Hong Kong identity), rather than post-1997 continuities and changes. Overall, a valuable, accessible, and needed volume. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. G. W. McDonogh Bryn Mawr College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
