Hong Kong, Empire and the Anglo-American Alliance at War, 1941–1945

The author provides a detailed, entertaining and persuasive account of Britain’s battle during World War II against the opposition of her supposed allies, America and China, and her enemy, Japan, to ensure that it would regain its colony of Hong Kong.

The fall of Singapore in February 1942 often marks the low water mark for the British Empire during World War II. The surrender of Hong Kong in December 1941, however, started the rot. Disproportionate to its small size, the colony became critical in Britain’s battle to retain her Far Eastern Empire. Ironically, the threat to British sovereignty came not from Japan, but her own allies, America and China. The issue of Hong Kong became a battle between the old world and the new for Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt.

The author sheds new light on the multi-faceted Anglo-American relationship, China’s claim to the colony and the significance of Britain’s ‘imperial mentality’. Empire was not merely a cloak for most policy-makers, but a fundamental tenet of British power. Without the Empire, it was widely held that British influence would disintegrate.

Drawing on a wide range of sources including newly opened British official records, the author provides a controversial investigation of the motivations for British policy and the relationships between American, Britain and China.

Andrew Whitfield researched the book in the UK, Hong Kong and the USA. He now lives in London and works for the British government in Whitehall.