Recommended Books on HK

Tolo Harbour from Tai Po Road 2012

This is just a list of books that I can recommend if, like me, you are more interested in the lesser-known aspects of Hong Kong. It's by no means a comprehensive list and I will keep adding as and when I find more worth recommending.

These books provide valuable information that cannot be readily found in amongst the usual tourist/guide literature (of which HK has plenty - all saying the same old stuff).

If anyone has any recommendations please let me know so I can follow them up and add them to the list. It's a bit of a mish-mash but it's all stuff I have enjoyed reading whether it's about culture, history, walks, finance or personal memoir - all have something to offer in terms of insight.

I'll keep adding to it as and when, but note that this is a list of non-fiction and memoirs. Although there are a few fiction works that have been enjoyable, I don't think they have a place on this blog.


Jason Wordie

• Streets: Exploring Hong Kong Island
• Streets: Exploring Kowloon
• Macao: People and Places, Past and Present

Patricia Lim

• Discovering Hong Kong's Cultural Heritage: HK & Kowloon
• Discovering Hong Kong's Cultural Heritage: New Territories

Pete Spurrier

• The Serious Hikers Guide to Hong Kong
• The Leisurely Hikers Guide to Hong Kong
• The Heritage Hikers Guide to Hong Kong

Tony Banham

• Not the Slightest Chance: The Defence of HK 1941
• The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru: Britain's Forgotten Wartime Tragedy
• We Shall Suffer There: HK's Defenders Imprisoned 1942-45

David Leffman

• Rough Guide to Hong Kong & Macau 2009 edition

Jonathan Chamberlain

• King Hui: The Man Who Owned all the Opium in Hong Kong
• Chinese Gods: An Introduction to Chinese Folk Religion

Peter Moss

• No Babylon: A Hong Kong Scrapbook

Joe Studwell

• Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in HK and South East Asia

Alice Poon

• Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong

Martin Booth

• Gwei Lo/Golden Boy

Feng Chi-shun

• Diamond Hill
• Hong Kong Noir

Patrick Hase

• The Six day War of 1899: Hong Kong in the Age of Imperialism
• 150 Years of Evangelization in Taipo: 50 Years of Foundation of the Church

Valerie Ann Penlington

• Winged Dragon: The History Of The Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force

Gillis Heller, Andrew Yanne

• Signs of a Colonial Era

Nicole Chabot

• Kowloon: Unknown Territory (with Ira Chaplain)
• Streetlife Hong Kong (with Michael Perini)

Austin Coates

• Myself a Mandarin

Eric Peter Ho

• Tracing My Children's Lineage

Guy Shirra

• The Accidental Prawn