In July 1997, Hong Kong ceased to be a British colony and reverted to the People's Republic of China. Five million people lost their status as British subjects and became citizens of a Special Administrative Region of the PRC. It was always clear that the last five years of Britsh rule would be fraught with uncertainty. For this reason the appointment of the former Chairman of the Conservative Party, Chris Patten in June 1992 as the last governor of Hong Kong was greeted with widespread approval. Jonathan Dimbleby has drawn on rare and privileged access to the Governor and his team to provide a remarkable insight into the events leading up to the handover, and the reasons why relations between China and Britain reached their lowest ebb for a generation. Drawing on the insights and revelations of a host of senior figures, the author places the crises in both its human and historical context.
