The life of Hong Kong and its region has been explored in a vast number of books. They include ground-breaking scholarly studies of great standing, and literary works that shed light on people, places, and events. Many of these books, unfortunately, are no longer available to the general reader.

The aim of the Echoes series is once more to make available the best of those books that would otherwise be lost. The series will embrace not only history, but also memoirs, fiction, politics, natural history, and other fields. The focal point will be Hong Kong, but the series will extend to places that were connected with the city or sharing some of its experiences. In this way we hope to bring a growing number of classic publications to a new and wider readership.