Retrieve A History Of Hong Kong Composed By Frank Welsh File

The most comprehensive history of the territory, Anyone with even the faintest interest in the past of the former colony should read this narrative, The style is a little thick at times but with the materials as they are the rhythm rarely drops, Hong Kong's colonial history isn't just worth learning about for those interested in the city, Conceptions and misconceptions about colonial Hong Kong continue to directly shape both Hong Kong and China's attitude to the West, Moreover, British Hong Kong provides an effective backdrop to study broader political questions, such as how democracy develops, the relationship between colonizer and colonized, and diplomacy between nations, Anyone interested in these themes would gain a lot from studying the city's colonial history,

I read this book concurrently with the other HK colonial history book people often recommend, A Modern History of Hong Kong by Steve Tsang, I reviewed both, and hope that comparing them can help point readers to where to start if they want to start learning about this city's fascinating and ever so relevant history.


The major critique people have of Welsh's A History of Hong Kong is its Anglocentrism, which is undeniably present, This is unsurprising, given that Welsh is himself a Brit and wrote this book as part of a series of histories on Britain's former colonies, However, when properly contextualized this shouldn't detract from the A History of Hong Kong's value, Not only does Welsh explicitly acknowledge the limitations of his perspective in the introduction ultimately the best we can expect from any historian, but I would argue that a careful understanding of British interests is crucial for understanding what unfolded in Hong Kong and China from.
The fact that this influential perspective is often ignored or oversimplified in most modern mainstream discussions of Hong Kong's history make it all the more valuable,

While Welsh's lengthy accounts of British political sentiments, parliamentary power transfers, and the personal histories of every influential Governor, parliamentarian, or civil service member can at times be monotonous and borderline obsessive, a patient reader will be rewarded with a clear understanding of the political and personal factors that guided Britain's rule over HK.
Especially enlightening are the detailed descriptions of Governors' personalities, management styles, and familiarity with China that help explain the successes and failures of their time in office, as well as how different Tory/Whig/Liberal governments in London had different goals for the city.
It's a shame that he doesn't extend the same level of detail

to more recent Hong Kong history as Tsang does, including the SinoBritish Handover negotiations and Patten's last governorship, but this limitation is understandable given the A History of Hong Kong's publication dateandeditions.


The balancing act between the constantly changing interests of the local expatriate community, local Chinese community, neighboring Chinese authorities, the British government in London, and the individual men "onthespot" running Hong Kong is a recurring theme when describing the colonial government's actions.
For example, we see how British imperial strategy, Hongkongers' early distrust of Western practices, the transient nature of the Chinese community, and political necessity to remain financially independent from London created the "noninterventionist" government culture in Hong Kong that remains influential today.
We also see how democratic institutions and culture arose slowly, with limited representation through LegCo, ExCo, the civil service, and the Tung Wah Hospital Board gradually developing as the need for democratic legitimacy grew, but careful of the risks democracy could pose to a colonial power especially as Nationalism and Communism swept China.


The book really stands out for its wide range of primary sources, which sets it apart from Steve Tsang's book, While this makes the book much lengthier and less efficient at communicating ideas, it also makes some of Welsh's less mainstream ideas more thoughtprovoking, The best example of this is when discussing the AngloChinese Wars, a term that both Welsh and Tsang prefer to "Opium Wars" due to their perspective that opium was in fact not a major cause of the conflict.
While Tsang seems content to relegate the evidence for this to the footnotes, Welsh perhaps acknowledging his outsider's perspective supplies almost exhaustively wideranging quotations from British politicians, negotiators, merchants, corporate balance sheets, and influential public figures to demonstrate that opium was not a major concern when the war was started or peace negotiated.
Opium is found to account for a tiny fraction of the China trade, private correspondence between London and negotiators reveals a readiness to support China's opium ban and reasonable efforts to punish smugglers, and tea, silk, and legal protections for expatriate merchants seem to be far greater concerns to Britain than opium.
I'm not a historian so can't speak to the comprehensiveness of Welsh's evidence or the evidence that may exist for the other side, but there's no question that these primary sources give the reader a significantly more nuanced historical perspective than that parroted by the Nationalist and Communist political agenda.


Although Welsh's detailed approach made the book dry at times and difficult to commit to at the start, over time I was struck by how compelling Welsh's narrative style eventually became.
Ultimately some interest in Hong Kong is needed to make it an enjoyable read even though its still an enlightening read for people with broader interests, but Welsh's use of primary evidence and vivid descriptions of key characters' lives do bring his narrative to life.
The choice to make the book broadly chronologicalwhereas Tsang's is organized somewhat chronologically but in themed chaptersalso adds a certain narrative suspense, Although Tsang communicates his ideas much more efficiently and tothepoint his book is maybe a third the length of Welsh, despite covering an even wider timeframe, his book reads more like a textbook while Welsh's reads like the precise, academic writing of a historian actively at work.
At the end of the day, Welsh is probably better for those who are patient enough for a more detailed history, prefer copious directly cited primary evidence to summaries, and are especially interested in the colonial government.
Meticulous account of the history of Hong Kong, Perhaps too meticulous I found myself skipping over some of the more to me boring sections, but found much of it fascinating, Not so much a history of Hong Kong but a tireless and exhaustive rambling chronology of the various decrees, letter, and general faffing about of the bloated, drinksoaked old toads who sat in power foryears.
The only notable section included a dig at the seal of Hong Kong, which was described as though it were "created by an oilman at Wapping, " Turns out the artist was actually from Wapping, OHHH, BURNED!!!! Dull, dull, dull,pages and three months later, I have finally finished this hefty book on the history of Hong Kong, Frank Welsh wrote such a sublime and extensive book on Hong Kong and her history from the Opium Wars and takes a look at the Qing Empire and how Hong Kong eventually came to be as one of the powerhouses/financial hubs intertwined as a crossover of both the West and the East.
As a history major, I found that this nonfiction book definitely covered many things ranging from the humble beginnings of the Crown Colony to the Second World War and the rise of Communist China and the development of Hong Kong in itself as a metropolitan city that we know today.
I really enjoyed it and the last two chapters: "Golden Years" and "Recessional" were the most significant in my opinion as it ties in with the current situation that Hong Kong finds itself in.
Highly recommend this novel as it takes an extensive look at the colonialism and imperialism associated with Hong Kong, .