Non-Fiction

Expand your mind to new perspectives with ground-breaking studies, engrossing biographies, quirky travelogues and so much more. Proverse is passionate about publishing captivating stories that inspire, enrich our lives and take us on an unforgettable journey.

“The Chinese of Macau a Decade after the Handover” by Jean A. Berlie

The Chinese of Macau a Decade after the Handover by Jean A. Berlie is an important contribution to the study of identity, a fundamental topic in the twenty-first as in the latter part of the twentieth century. Identity in Macau is studied not only from a local Chinese perspective but also from a Macanese viewpoint. Society, culture and religion among the Chinese of Macau – and in particular the roles played by various Macau social, cultural and religious associations – are each studied in the context of economic circumstances.

Based on two years of laborious fieldwork, initially assisted by Macau University students and others, The Chinese of Macau benefits from and re-actualizes Jean Berlie’s previous research, published by Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York, as Macau 2000. Coinciding with Macau’s change in status to become a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, and providing a snapshot of Macau Society at this significant point in Macau’s history, Macau 2000, was received with great interest.

The joint study of society and economy is a key point of both these complementary studies. Indeed, in Berlie’s view, the current world economic crisis will be solved only when economists understand the interplay between these factors. Geoffrey C. Gunn, Professor of International Relations at NagasakiUniversity, has contributed a foreword and Tong Io Cheng, Professor at the Faculty of Law, Universityof Macauand Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Macau, has contributed a chapter to Berlie’s new book, The Chinese of Macau.

Jean A. Berlie is a researcher, since 1991 based at the Centre of Asian Studies (CAS) (now re-named Centre for Humanities and Social Science (incorporating the Centre for Asian Studies)), University of Hong Kong. In August 2012 he joined the Centre for Greater China Studies at the Hong Kong Institute of Education as an Honorary Research Fellow. He is a member of the board of Tai Culture, Berlin. Since 1990, he has been conducting research in cooperation with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Jinan University, Guangzhou, and separately, also with the Academy of Social Science at Yunnan. Berlie’s main research focus is threefold:China;Macau (funded by the Cultural Institute of Macau between 1995 and 2000 and the Macau Foundation in 2011); and Southeast Asia. His books include, among others, The Burmanization of Myanmar’s Muslims (2008), East Timor Politics and Elections (2007), Islam in China (2004) and Macao 2000 (Editor) (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).

Geoffrey C. Gunn (author of Foreword) is a graduate of Melbourne University. From 1994 he has been Professor of International Relations at Nagasaki University. He is the author of numerous books and studies, including, History Without Borders: The Making of an Asian World Region (1500-1800), University of Hong Kong Press, 2011, First Globalization: The Eurasian Exchange (1500-1800), Rowman and Littelefield, 2003, and Encountering Macau: The Rise of a Portuguese City-State on the Periphery of China, 1557-1999, Westview Press, 1996.

Tong Io Cheng (author of Chapter Two) is a Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Macau. His numerous books include among others Macau Contract Law– International Encyclopaedia of Law, Kluwer Online, 2009 (English Monograph), A Study on The Basic Theories of Civil Law and Macau Civil Law, Malaga (Spain): SYS University Press, 2088, and O Regime Jurídico do Contrato-Promessa, Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Macau, 2004 (Chinese Monograph). He has the rare chance of being able to teach law, as well as having the capacity to make law as a Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Macau SAR.

‘The history and sociology of Macauhas been neglected by researchers, but not by the intrepid Dr Jean Berlie who has already written Macao 2000. The parts ofChina that remained outside the PRC such asHong Kong until 1997 and 1999 forMacau – Taiwan remains independent – have become important points of comparison with the mainland concerning the cultural evolution of each of these entities. Dr Berlie’s study of Chinese society inMacau provides an important contribution to this ongoing discussion. Hopefully it will encourage other researchers to delve more deeply into other aspects of society and culture among the Chinese of Macau.’
Grant Evans, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Hong Kong

‘Jean Berlie’s book is an indispensable one for our deeper and comprehensive understanding of the evolution of identity inMacau. It is a must-read work for all those who wish to explore the topic of identity inMacaunot only from the local Chinese perspective but also from the Portuguese and Macanese standpoints.’
Sonny Lo, Professor and Head of the Department of Social Sciences, Hong Kong Institute of Education

“Searching for Frederick and Adventures along the Way” by Verner Bickley

Searching for Frederick and Adventures along the Way by Verner Bickley is a biography of Frederick Stewart and was supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. His own career as cultural and educational practitioner and educator provided useful insights and leads. Narrative of eight-years research, in Scotland, England and Hong Kong, as well as worldwide, with useful addresses and contact information.Intermixed with fascinating stories and provocative reflections from the author’s own life experience, mainly in Asia.

Verner Bickley writes in a mostly light-hearted vein, with a gentle humour.
Sir James Hodge, British Consul General,Hong Kong

Verner and Gillian Bickley’s methodical investigations are a handshake down the years. Their fascination with Frederick Stewart (1836-1889) produced Gillian’s biography, The Golden Needle, in 1997. Dr Verner Bickley’s Searching for Frederick and Adventures Along the Way is a behind-the-scenes ‘bookumentary’, explaining in detail how and why the Bickleys undertook the endeavour.

For genealogists and Hong Kong historians, Verner Bickley’s book is a fascinating guide to biographical research. It contains contact numbers and addresses for Hong Kong and British public record offices, libraries, archives, registries and top tips on searching, such as where to start and how to synthesise documents.
SCMP

“In Time of War” by Henry C. S. Collingwood-Selby, R.N. and others

In Time of War by Henry C. S. Collingwood-Selby shows how a British naval officer, confined during the Second World War as a Prisoner of War in Hong Kong under Japanese Occupation, engaged his mind during those three and a half years. There are talks he gave to other POWs, drawings and essays. Transcripts from his diary for the year immediately before the Fall of Hong Kong provide fascinating insights, as do correspondence with family and friends and official documents. Photographs and narratives relating to his previous time with the Chinese Maritime Customs Service and descriptions from the time of the Japanese occupation of Kiukiang on the Chinese Mainland provide unusual first-hand information.

The editor, Richard Collingwood-Selby was born in 1933 in Kuling, China and brought up in the U.K. and the U.S.A., educated at Bryanston and Oxford. He then surprised his friends and family by going off to teach English in Chile for three years. He is still there 55 years later, with a Chilean wife, three children and three grandchildren. Most of those 55 years have been devoted to education. During 38 of them he headed an independent school that he and his wife founded. At diverse times he founded or co-founded two national associations of schools, chaired the United World Colleges national committee and introduced the English-Speaking Union into Chile. Towards the end of his career he helped to set up another school, as an off-shoot of the original, but this one for children from underprivileged families.

Although semi-retired for ten years, Richard is still an active member of the boards of governors of the two schools mentioned. He is an enthusiastic proponent of education as a developer of human qualities, not only the intellect, and as an eventual corrector of the inequalities of society. In his spare time Richard enjoys travelling, hiking, swimming, reading and delving into the recent past.

“Through American Eyes: The Journals (18 May 1859-1 September 1860) of George Washington (Farley) Heard (1837-1875)” edited by Gillian Bickley

Through American Eyes: The Journals (18 May 1859-1 September 1860) of George Washington (Farley) Heard (1837-1875), edited by Dr. Gillian Bickley, gives a fascinating eye-witness account of early western diplomacy, military intervention, tourism and trade in China and Japan Long ago secrets, lost emotions and persistent sadness at human conflict are finally revealed in this first publication of journals written by a young American visiting the Far East for the first time.

Travelling out in 1859 to join his uncle’s then successful trading house, Augustine Heard & Co., George was hired on shipboard by fellow-passenger John E. Ward, the American Minister tasked with the ratification of the American-Chinese treaty. As an attaché to the American Legation, George witnessed the June 1859 Battle of the Peiho, and in July 1860 – now promoted as Secretary of Legation – he saw the western Allies’ preparations for the return battle that took place in August 1860. At least one of his letters home was borrowed to be copied by the American Minister and sent to the US President as an official report.

These were early days in the intercourse between the United States and the Far East; a first Treaty with Japan (which George also visited and writes about here) had been agreed only a short time earlier. Some of the Chinese people whom George talked with in villages visited on the way to Beijing had never heard of his country.

A cultured, charming and conscientious person, with a sense of humour, an early-developed cross-cultural perspective, and highly readable writing style, George W. Heard died unmarried in his late thirties, and was buried far from home. This book finally brings home his memorial.