Borrowed Place Borrowed Time: Hong Kong and it’s many faces
About this book
Richard Hughes, the Far East correspondent of the Sunday Times and The Economist, has lived in Hong Kong for many years. No one knows more about its history and it’s life today. His vivid survey of its past, its economic and social life (not to mention its nightlife, gastronomy and ‘characters’), and its prospects in the future. For the present edition Richard Hughes has revised it extensively in order to assess changes which have taken place in the last eight years. Among other things he takes into account the detente with Communist China and the admission of Peking to the United Nations; the end of the flow of refugees into Hong Kong; the startling revelations of corruption in the colony’s police force; and the changing economic tempo of the Far East. The book has been almost rewritten, but two things remain unchanged: Richard Hughes’ informal approach, witty and full of amusing anecdotes, and his remarkable ability to enlighten and inform without wasting words. Hong Kong, a Western colony on Chinese soil, is uniquely interesting, a microcosm of the confrontation between East and West. It demands the greater understanding provided here, with a rare combination of expertise and brio, by Richard Hughes.