Books by Steve (Oxford University Tsang

The relationship between the USA and the People's Republic of China (PRC) was the defining factor in the Cold War in Asia - the potentially explosive conflict which, as seen in the Korean War, brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster. The PRC had not become 'Titoist' as some hoped and remained firmly within the Soviet international orbit. But how did Great Britain and the Republic of China (ROC) fit into this potentially lethal global jigsaw? Steve Tsang has illuminated the history of a seemingly obscure corner of international relations and politics but which was, to contempories, at the heart of global survival. He has carried out extensive research in unique Chinese- and English-language sources, both official and private.

This major history of Hong Kong tells the remarkable story of how a cluster of remote fishing villages grew into an icon of capitalism. The story began in 1842 with the founding of the Crown Colony after the First Anglo-Chinese war - the original 'Opium War'. As premier power in Europe and an expansionist empire, Britain first created in Hong Kong a major naval station and the principal base to open the Celestial Chinese Empire to trade. Working in parallel with the locals, the British built it up to become a focus for investment in the region and an international centre with global shipping, banking and financial interests. Yet by far the most momentous change in the history of this prosperous, capitalist colony was its return in 1997 to 'Mother China', the most powerful Communist state in the world.

Hong Kong is at the heart of modern China's position as a regional - and potential world - superpower. This history of the region argues that its prosperity is a direct by-product of the British administrators who ran the place as a colony before the handover in 1997.