Macao - People and Places, Past and Present

From Areca Books - Online Bookshop:

Jason Wordie’s mammoth "Macao - People and Places, Past and Present" is a superb book, beautifully illustrated with photographs courtesy of Professor Anthony Headley Colin Day and maps by Wee Kek Koon. A review sums it up succintly "Macao the book does this for Macao the place; each building or site described stimulating its author to ruminate upon the history, culture and above all the people connected with it. Each thread Wordie teases from Macao’s fabric leads to another, as you follow him through the labyrinth of Macao’s meandering streets and back ways."

Obviously, Chinese and Portuguese history, culture, peoples and architecture are the dominant themes in this book, captured in the sublime photographs in just about every page. Think of this book as a highly enjoyable guided tour, conducted especially for you by a noted historian and a witty, erudite writer. He is, as another reviewer noted, persuasive as well as entertaining.

More than a guidebook, Macao is first and foremost a scholarly work, bookended with an exhaustive bibliography and an alphabetical index and relevant footnotes. Portuguese and Chinese names and words are accompanied with English translations.

The author Jason Wordie is an established Hong Kong historian and writer. A history graduate at Hong Kong University, and blessed with a phenomenal memory, he swiftly established a reputation for popular historical walks, which he conducted in various parts of Hong Kong, Macao and Canton. Jason also contributes weekly to the South China Morning Post. A keen gardener and recreational hiker, he has made his home in the New Territories for over 25 years. His other works include Ruins of War, and the two volumes of Streets, describing Hong Kong and Kowloon.