Not your typical photo book! David Bellis, founder of the popular local history website Gwulo, shows you a selection of his favourite photos of old Hong Kong. So far, so familiar. But then he takes you on a deep dive to discover and understand the photos’ most minute and revealing details. Plague-ridden rats (pg. 7), flapper hats (pg. 56), and chocolates (pg. 73) are just a few of the surprising clues you’ll investigate. Finally, David helps you piece the clues together to uncover the photos’ hidden stories.

Revisit old Hong Kong through this book’s collection of rare photos, many of them over 100 years old. Then join David to explore the photos’ details, and so discover their hidden stories: the women who toiled up the Peak’s slopes each day, carrying heavy loads of bricks and coal on their shoulders, buried treasure still waiting to be found, Kowloon’s vanishing hills, and many more. David runs the award-winning local history website Gwulo, home to over 25,000 photos of old Hong Kong.

David puts more of his favourite old Hong Kong photos under the magnifying glass, revealing the photos’ secrets, and uncovering their hidden stories. Flying Italian miners (p. 107), disembodied feet (p. 13), and the most beautiful woman you’ll never see (p. 17) are just a few of the surprises in store for you.

Grab your flippers, mask, and magnifying glass – Volume 3 is full of old photos of people in, on, under, and around Hong Kong’s famous harbour. Many of the photos are published for the first time, and although they’re old, they are sharp and packed with detail. Join David in uncovering the photos’ secrets, deciphering their stories, and meeting the people of old Hong Kong. David runs the award-winning local history website Gwulo, home to over 20,000 photos of old Hong Kong.

The last work of the internationally known, Booker-shortlisted writer is a memoir of growing up in 1950s Hong Kong.

A Career of Japan is the first study of one of the major photographers and personalities of nineteenth-century Japan. Baron Raimund von Stillfried was the most important foreign-born photographer of the Meiji era and one of the first globally active photographers of his generation. Based on extensive new primary sources and unpublished documents from archives around the world, this book examines von Stillfried’s significance as a cultural mediator between Japan and Central Europe. Awarded the 2nd Professor Josef Kreiner Hosei University Award for International Japanese Studies.

The Peak is Hong Kongs top residential district, where property prices are as high as the altitude. How did it become an exclusive enclave in the bustling business centre of 19th-century Asia? The British wanted relief from summer heat and the Peak was the obvious place to escape it. When the Governor adopted Mountain Lodge as a summer getaway, development accelerated and the opening of the Peak Tram in 1888 made access easier. Gradually a community developed and a church, a club and a school were established. This book describes how the now-popular tourist area developed over time and adapted as needs changed.