Reviews (3)

One of the best books I've ever seen!
Everyone who I have ever shown this book to has had a deep reaction to it. I wouldn't handicap this book by calling it a photography book alone, although the photos are very powerful and prominent, but the text deserves recognition aswell. Plenty of personal stories of how people made this decaying city their home. Both epic and intimate. A testament of the human animal's ability to adapt and thrive. Thank god the authors got in to Kowloon before its destruction to create this book.
City of Darkness--Life in Kowloon Walled City
I was born in Hong Kong and lived in the Walled City for 2 years with my mother when I was 10. Love the photos, history, and facts about the walled city, bring back lots of memories.
one of a kind
An amazing insight to the abolished walled city with beautiful photos. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Hong Kong    2. Places & peoples: general interest    3. Asian / Middle Eastern history    4. China   

Reviews (2)

Best book on Hong Kong
This is by far the best book on Hong Kong I have ever read. It is clearly written, balanced, and insightful. My family and I have lived in Hong Kong for years and it is nice to read a book that describes a place one knows well in beautifully written prose. It is fair about both the British and the local Chinese communities. When I read the chapter on the rise of a Hong Kong identity I know this is really good.It rings true.Most highly recommended.

A well-balanced treatment of Hong Kong's history that lives up to its name
A Modern History of Hong Kong presents a supremely well-balanced history of this former British imperial possession. Steve Tsang's meticulously researched historical narrative duly recognizes the efforts of both Hong Kong's industrious and civic-minded local Chinese population and the expatriate British who held the bulk of the administrative power over Hong Kong during its tenure as a crown colony. Tsang's work demonstrates that Hong Kong's ethnic Chinese inhabitants played an essential and dynamic role in the creation of the former colony in that they constituted its economic, industrial, and infrastructural workforce from the beginning, and came to develop their own unique Hong Kong identity as the population stabilized culturally but exploded in number in the decades following the Second World War. Tsang's historical account never strays far from what students of Marxist theory would likely refer to as Hong Kong's material conditions, in that the book portrays Hong Kong's cultural development within the context of its economic and political circumstances. The work puts forth a history of Hong Kong in which the colony's unique social and cultural characteristics were established as a result of the relatively minimalist legal and political framework that was provided by the British colonizers in order to ensure Hong Kong's capitalistic success. Students of history, English, postcolonial studies, comparative literature, and other academic disciplines will find this book to be a fascinating primer for further studies into both Hong Kong's history and the colonial and postcolonial initiatives of Britain and other Eurasian countries. General readers and academics alike who are interested in Hong Kong's history will find Steve Tsang's book to be a lively, entertaining, and fair treatment of the forces and events that led to the formation of this former colony and to the creation of its current identity as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. 20th century    3. Asia - China    4. Asia - Southeast Asia    5. China - History    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Hong Kong (China)    10. Asian / Middle Eastern history: c 1500 to c 1900    11. Asian / Middle Eastern history: from c 1900 -    12. China    13. Colonization & independence    14. History / Asia    15. Hong Kong    16. c 1800 to c 1900   

Editorial Review

Until the 1830s, China was scarcely known to the outside world. When Europeans began to arrive in number in that decade, demanding of the Ching dynasty's rulers access to raw materials and to China's huge domestic markets alike, the Chinese resisted, but, in the end, unsuccessfully. England in particular sought a market for the opium, a crown monopoly produced in India, and it waged a brief war to press its claim--a war that won it that market, the ownership of Hong Kong, and entry into cities like Shanghai and Guangdong. The war also contributed to the eventual collapse of Ching rule. Really a footnote in history, the Opium War, then, had major consequences that color Sino-Western relations even today. Peter Ward Fay tells the story in this well-written, vigorous narrative.Read more

Reviews (3)

An epic and fascinating read
While there are regrettably few definitive one-volume accounts of the imperialist foreign rape of China (and anyone seeking a balanced and fair account is forced by this dearth of material to digest the information contained across vastly differing accounts from both the Chinese and foreign side), Fay's study is easily one of the most engaging. It is not a dry history, nor a polemic. It is beautiful, fresh and literary writing that reads like a novel, packed with ground-level observations, much gathered from the journals of the Western participants themselves. Fay also does a better job than many others in dissecting the psychologies behind the politics and clashing cultures. Fay also succeeds by never straying from the bottom line: the opium and opium trafficking.

Authoritative andElegant
Nearly three decades after it was first published,Fay's book remains the best single volume on the Opium War, and one of the best books on China in the 19th century.It is easy to read, but is scholarly enough for the most fastidious. Unlike the other reviewerI had no particular difficulties with the timeline, although that can be a problem with any historical narrative.Be advised that this is a narrative history and can be read with joy by those who find social or economic histories tedious, but the background of the war is covered in particular detail as well. Fay is not a professional sinologist, and came to this book through his studies of the East India Company,but the book seems none the worse for his wide knowledge.It was recommended to me by some very distinguished historians of China, and their enthusiasm wasjustified. It is not a weighty tome, like those of Mary Wright or Vincent Shih on China in the 19th century, but it is authoritative on its subject, and like the best of Fairbank, it is great fun to read. Can one say better things about a book? If you are interested in the Opium War, Qin dynasty history, imperialism, or just like reading a good narrative about a war,please indulge yourself-- and read this book.

This is one of the most frustrating books I've ever read.
Peter Fay's book on the Opium War is one of the most detailed studies of the period between 1838-1842 one can find at anything like the price, and would be a valuable resource except for one major flaw--there is notime-line given, and dates are provided, at most, with day and month, notyear.This may seem like an insignificant thing, but given thatcorrespondence took at least six months in one direction from China toEngland, and that the war was taking place with sailing ships up and downmost of China's coast, it quickly becomes impossible to tell, either fromthe footnotes or the text, what year precisely specific events happened. Since so few dates are given at all, it is impossible to get a good senseof the exact sequence of events, particularly as the fighting part of thewar heated up.When the book is next released, it should have a time line! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Asia - General    3. China    4. China - History    5. Europe - Great Britain - General    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Modern - 19th Century    10. Opium War, 1840-1842    11. Asian / Middle Eastern history: c 1500 to c 1900    12. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    13. England; China; opium trade; India; Protestant missionaries; Catholic missionaries; British; Hong Kong    14. History / China    15. Hong Kong    16. United Kingdom, Great Britain    17. Warfare & Defence    18. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (6)

A serious look at the Hong Kong film industry
Since John Woo and Jackie Chan hit it big in North America, there have been a ton of books on the Hong Kong film industry. Most of them are either poorly written or poorly presented. Or, worst of all, only focus on the figures (Woo & Chan) that people here in North America would recognized. Best popular-film book ever?
Not just the best book about Hong Kong cinema but the best ever written about a popular commercial movie industry. It is a model of practicality, fresh observation, and original on-site research in an academic field dominated by received ideology and sociological condescension. Bordwell pays tribute to the highly specialized film craftsmen of Kowloon, world-class experts in delivering intense pleasure to a large audience. We hope that he plans to write many sequels. Are you ready for "Planet Bollywood"?

The best book on Hong Kong cinema yet
For the history of Hong Kong cinema, Stephen Teo's HONG KONG CINEMA : THE EXTRA DIMENSION can't be topped; but this impressive book is far and away the best yet to examine this vital art film from the aesthetic angle. Bordwell also covers some of the financial makeup of the Hong Kong film industry, and even devotes space to the often-ridiculed Wong Jing. His chapters on Hong Kong editing styles are not just informative, they're absolutely inspiring. This book should be required reading for every film student! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - General    2. China    3. Film & Video - History & Criticism    4. History    5. Hong Kong    6. Motion pictures    7. Performing Arts    8. Performing Arts/Dance    9. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    10. Theater - General    11. Film theory & criticism    12. Performing Arts / Film / History & Criticism   

Reviews (2)

cutting-edge China style
This book is at the cutting-edge of today's modern Chinese interior design. The selection of the featured projects covers a wide range of style. Generally speaking, the majority of these projects are great works (except for one HK house). I have personally been to several of the places featured in this book. The text and the pictures captured the beauty of these places and provided rich information about the cultural values behind decoration and designing. Simply put, this is a high quality book. I can feel that the authors are really serious about the content and have done a lot of research. If you like Chinese style and modern decoration, this is definitely an excellent source.

Red Army meets Zen Modern
written by obviously one of the region's foremost authorities on Chinese design and interiors having been in Hongkong with Elle Decor and other excellent publications for many years, Sharon Leece knows her way around the traditional feng shui and new leanings of the China elite as well as the western expat with a home and heart in Asia. Creative and informative text and fabulous photos take the reader on a trip into another world of China Decor uptil now unseen but sure to be come a trend worldwide. Check out her other China interior books for even more wonderful shots of lush and lavish spaces. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 21st century    2. Architecture    3. China    4. General    5. History    6. Hong Kong    7. Interior Design - General    8. Interior decoration    9. International Architecture - Asian    10. Interior design   

Reviews (7)

If you are going to Hong Kong, read this first.
At least one of the reviewers on this list was unkind about the book, but I think it only fails, in the manner that all single-volume histories do, by trying to cover so much in so little. I have only read the unrevised 1990 Penguin paperback and only after I had already worked in Hong Kong in the early 90's. I wish I had read it before I went there, because it would have helped me to make sense of the total assault on the senses that HK is. If you are going to Hong Kong, read this first.
At least one of the reviewers on this list was unkind about the book, but I think it only fails, in the manner that all single-volume histories do, by trying to cover so much in so little. I have only read the unrevised 1990 Penguin paperback and only after I had already worked in Hong Kong in the early 90's. I wish I had read it before I went there, because it would have helped me to make sense of the total assault on the senses that HK is. Scattershot
If lace doilies could read, they'd love Jan Morris. Yes, she's a facile writer. Her sentences are at once both sinewy and elegant, and her book is rich with detail. However, reading Hong Kong by Jan Morris is like surveying the wreckage after a car bomb explodes a national archive. Miles of shelves have dumped their contents; and all the pages have been blown off their bookbindings. What remains are heaps of torched and scattered passages having little to no connection, except in catastrophic coincidence. To think of it another way, imagine learning animal husbandry by studying the floor of the butcher shop: odd scraps of meat, tangled ligaments, knotty tendons, and splattered blood. Collectively, they suggest "animal," but all the meaning and life has been stripped away. No one is going to learn to raise pigs that way. Similarly, I couldn't understand Hong Kong by reading Hong Kong. Perhaps I'm too harsh. Her book was neither a terrorist act nor even a massacre. In fact, at times her flowery writing is intoxicating. Nevertheless, I got the feeling that in her mind, Morris writes to seduce William F. Buckley, Jr., and that's just sick. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1926-    2. Asia - China    3. Asia - General    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. China    6. Description and travel    7. History    8. Hong Kong    9. Hong Kong (China)    10. Modern - 20th Century    11. Morris, Jan,    12. Travel    13. Travel - Foreign    14. History / Asia    15. Journeys    16. Morris, Jan    17. Travel & holiday guides   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. China    7. Civil service    8. Ethnic Studies - General    9. General    10. History    11. Hong Kong    12. Interior Design - General    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Biography: general    15. Central government    16. c 1945 to c 1960    17. c 1960 to c 1970    18. c 1970 to c 1980    19. c 1980 to c 1990   

Reviews (2)

Traces the history of Hong Kong's film arts
The collaborative effort of Hong Kong Film Archive programmer Law Kar and film and modern history scholar Frank Bren, Hong Kong Cinema: A Cross-cultural View, traces the history of Hong Kong's film arts from the "Western shadow plays" of the late 1890s, to the boom of the 1930s, to Hong Kong's title of the "Hollywood of China" that has eclipsed the moviemaking prominence of Shanghai since the 1940s, a preeminence that continues to this day. Hong Kong Cinema explores major developments in the Hong King film making industry, including the changing role of women and the influx of both Eastern and Western influences. A highly readible account, Hong Kong Cinema is as enjoyable for the non-specialized general reader as it is for those in the film industry looking to flesh out their knowledge of the Hong Kong film industry.
Excellent account of the evolution of HK cinema
I read this book with great relish as it provides such a fascinating account of the evolution of Hong Kong cinema. The authors and editors are evidently experts in the subject, and they really leaves no stone unturned. Read more

Subjects:  1. China    2. Cinema/Film: Book    3. Film & Video - General    4. Film & Video - History & Criticism    5. Film - General    6. Foreign influences    7. History    8. Hong Kong    9. Motion pictures    10. Performing Arts    11. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    12. Films, cinema    13. Performing Arts / Film / History & Criticism   

Editorial Review

"This book offers a history of Hong Kong cinema in the postwar period. It is an extraordinary history of survival and success against the odds, a history which is inseparably bound up with Hong Kong's economic miracle." Here is the first book to treat the Hong Kong film industry with real seriousness, demonstrating how it reflected the changes in the city's administration and growth. Author Stephen Teo convincingly debunks the commonplace notion that Hong Kong consistently produced movies of "dubious aesthetic quality"; he uncovers the remarkable range and versatility of the city's cinema. Teo focuses on international action stars such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and directors like John Woo, Ringo Lam, and Tsui Hark, while also covering the industry's forays into melodrama, horror, comedy, social realism, the crime film, and other genres. His descriptions of the industry's ethics are very powerful, even when he covers action movies: "More than any other cinema, the Hong Kong cinema takes to heart the adage that old warriors never die: they fade away and reappear, some taking the call to arms literally by using their fists as kung fu warriors. Others fence their way to a last moment of glory as expert swordsmen and women before the sword is sheathed and the scabbard hung up." Read more

Reviews (2)

Best book on the subject that I've read
If you're looking for true insight into the development of Hong Kong cinema, be sure to check out this informative yet entertaining work. While some other books on HK cinema are all flash and recommend the same few titles over and over, this book looks far beyond the surface. I found myself reaching to re-read sections over and over after viewing different films, wanting to refresh my memory on the stories behing their directors, stars, and genres as a whole.
no other book like this in english
While there have been tons of books on HK cinema, they mostly touch on the popular movies, directors and stars.You hear of John Woo, Jackie Chan, Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam etc etc.But there are next to none, if any, on thehistory of HK cinema in English.This book is an essential read if onewants to know more about the political and cultural events that shaped HKcinema.Thankfully it isn't only just essential and informative, it alsomanages to be enjoyable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. China    2. Film & Video - Cinematography    3. Film & Video - General    4. Film & Video - History & Criticism    5. History    6. Hong Kong    7. Motion pictures    8. Performing Arts    9. Performing Arts/Dance    10. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    11. Popular Culture - General    12. 20th century    13. Films, cinema    14. Performing Arts / General   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Asia - China    4. Globalization    5. History    6. Hong Kong (China)    7. Human Geography    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - Urban    11. Cultural studies    12. Social Science / General   

Reviews (3)

A master class in practical packaging
I was drawn to this book originally for all of the fascinating stories it told about traditional Chinese medicine, but I became increasingly interested in what it had to say about different ways of packaging.
A very original book on a common household item
Hong Kong Apothecary is a very entertaining read. As a Chinese-American, I grew up around different Chinese medicines and remedies all my life. But I didn't know that there was so much history, success, and scandal behind them until I found this book. Until I saw all the different designs together in one book, I didn't appreciate the intricate designs of medicine packaging either. I get nostalgic looking at some of these photographs. I say to myself, 'Hey! I've used this medicine before!' It's a fun book to read through and the designs make for very inspirational reference material.

A GREAT & BEAUTIFUL BOOK!
As a history buff with an interest in packaging and pharmaceutical history, I was enthralled by this book.With a beautiful layout and interesting text, this book taught me a ton about Chinese medicine and provided hours of entertaining reading. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Asian    4. China    5. Commercial - Advertising    6. Drugs    7. General    8. History    9. Hong Kong    10. Materia medica    11. Medicine, Chinese    12. Packaging    13. Pharmacy    14. Architecture / General    15. Art / History / Asian    16. Graphic design    17. Traditional medicine & remedies    18. apothecary    19. medicine packaging   

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Business & Economics    3. Contemporary Economic Situations And Conditions    4. Earth Sciences - Geography    5. East Asia - History    6. Economic Conditions    7. Far East    8. Historical Geography    9. History    10. History - General History    11. Hong Kong (China)    12. Science/Mathematics    13. Asian / Middle Eastern history    14. China    15. Hong Kong (China)--History    16. Science / Geography   

Reviews (1)

Inventive look at global/local dynamics in imperial HongKong
An inventive look at localist twists and practices in cinema, literature, urban space, within contexts of transnational porousness and neo-nationalism. A poetics of distraction and late capitalist bemusement,useful and the mall and in the movies and poesy too. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. Civilization    3. Far East    4. General    5. History    6. History: World    7. Hong Kong (China)    8. Sociology    9. Transfer of Sovereignty from G    10. Transfer of Sovereignty from Great Britain, 1997    11. Anthropology    12. Cultural studies    13. Hong Kong    14. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    15. The Arts   

Subjects:  1. Adventure films    2. Asia - General    3. China    4. Cinema/Film: Book    5. Film & Video - History & Criticism    6. History and criticism    7. Hong Kong    8. Performing Arts    9. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    10. ASIA    11. Asian Studies    12. Cultural Studies    13. Film & Television Studies    14. Film theory & criticism   

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. China    3. Congresses    4. Economic conditions    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: World    8. Information Technology    9. Internet    10. Politics and government    11. Asian studies    12. Hong Kong    13. Impact of computing & IT on society    14. International relations    15. Political Science / International Relations    16. Taiwan   

Subjects:  1. Asia - China    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Public Policy - City Planning & Urban Dev.    6. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    7. Hong Kong    8. Housing    9. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    10. c 1945 to c 1960   

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. Hong Kong (China)    4. Military    5. Military - World War II    6. Military Science    7. Personal narratives, British    8. Prisoners and prisons, Japanese    9. Siege, 1941    10. World War, 1939-1945    11. Asian / Middle Eastern history: Second World War    12. History / Military / World War II    13. Hong Kong   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Historical - General    5. Personal Memoirs    6. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs    7. Biography: historical   

Subjects:  1. China    2. Film & Video - General    3. Film & Video - History & Criticism    4. History    5. Hong Kong    6. Motion pictures    7. Performing Arts    8. Performing Arts/Dance    9. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    10. Films, cinema   

Subjects:  1. 1948-    2. 21st century    3. Architecture    4. China    5. City planning    6. Design & Drafting    7. Ecology    8. Exhibitions    9. History    10. Hong Kong    11. Landscape    12. Landscape Horticulture    13. Nature    14. Sustainable architecture    15. T.R. Hamzah & Yeang Sdn. Bhd    16. T.R. Hamzah & Yeang Sdn. Bhd.    17. Yeang, Ken,    18. Applied ecology    19. Architecture / General    20. Individual architects    21. Landscape art & architecture