Unequal Treaty 1898-1997 by Peter Wesley-Smith, Oxford University Press A post-handover edition of Peter Wesley-Smith's landmark work on the New Territories lease is a joy to read again, despite it being a considerably revised and updated edition of a book first published 17 years ago.
It is clear from reading it that this is not a new book. On the other hand it is a considerable advance on earlier versions, if only because history has now supplied it with a dramatically satisfying ending.
The publisher claims, and few will doubt, that earlier editions of this book were used for reference by both sides in the Sino-British negotiations on Hong Kong's future.
The book has, to some extent, the field to itself. But it also features compendious scholarship, an eminently even-handed approach to contentious issues and a high standard of lucid prose.
One of the illuminating things about this book is that careful readers will deduce a good idea of the limitations of legal principles as a guide to international behaviour.
The framers of the Convention of Beijing in 1898 made errors for which a conveyancing solicitor transferring the ownership of a parking space might fear disbarment.
The Chinese have always suspected that the convention was dictated at gunpoint by British imperialists. Actually there seems to have been a surprising measure of genuine agreement, albeit achieved largely by high levels of ignorance on both sides of what they were doing.