King Hui: The Man Who Owned All the Opium in Hong Kong

Jonathan Chamberlain, an ex long-term resident of a little island in the South China Sea, has written a biography of a man known as Peter Hui.

The book will shift copies on its title alone: the Man Who Owned All the Opium in Hong Kong. How long did that fortunate state of affairs endure? Five minutes or five hours? Enquiring minds need to know.

And yet this book is not just one man’s story. It is the story of a time and place -- colonial Hong Kong, Portuguese Macao and the south China hinterland between Hong Kong and Canton -- seen from the unique point of view of a man who was at home at all levels of society. There are, for example, no other published accounts of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong as seen from the non-combatant Chinese perspective.

King Hui goes on sale in early December. However, if you order the book before 30 November 2007, Jonathan will sign yr copy! More details about the author, King Hui, and ordering: blacksmith books