Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Gate to China

  • A New History of the People’s Republic & Hong Kong
  • By: Michael Sheridan
  • Narrated by: Daniel York
  • Length: 20 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (10 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Gate to China cover art

The Gate to China

By: Michael Sheridan
Narrated by: Daniel York
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Hong Kong Diaries cover art
Modern China (2nd Edition) cover art
Abroad in Japan cover art
Defying the Dragon cover art
Red Memory cover art
China After Mao cover art
A War of Empires cover art
Three Tigers, One Mountain cover art
The Age of Awakening cover art
Among the Braves cover art
The Weimar Years cover art
The Hidden History of Burma cover art
Korea cover art
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China cover art
What Is History, Now? cover art
The Impossible City cover art

Summary

A superb new history of the rise of China and the fall of Hong Kong to authoritarian rule. 

The rise of China and the fall of Hong Kong to authoritarian rule are told with unique insight in this new history by Michael Sheridan, drawing on eyewitness reporting over three decades, interviews with key figures and documents from archives in China and the West.

The story sweeps the listener from the earliest days of trade through the Opium Wars of the 19th century to the age of globalisation and the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China. It ends with the battle for democracy on the city’s streets and the ultimate victory of the Chinese Communist Party.

How did it come to this? We learn from private papers that Margaret Thatcher anguished over the fate of Hong Kong, sought secret American briefings on how to handle China and put her trust in an adviser who was torn between duty and pride. The deal they made with Beijing did not last.

The Chinese side of this history, so often unheard, emerges from memoirs and documents, many new to the foreign listener, revealing how the party’s iron will and negotiating tactics crushed its opponents. Yet the voices of Hong Kong people - eloquent, smart and bold - speak out here for ideals that refuse to die.

Sheridan’s book tells how Hong Kong opened the way for the People’s Republic as it reformed its economy and changed the world, emerging to challenge the West with a new order that raises fundamental questions about progress, identity and freedom. It is critical listening for all who study, trade or deal with China.

©2021 Michael Sheridan (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"A delightful piece of writing and research which describes the remarkable history behind the handover of this unique and exciting city. The unravelling of the deal between the Chinese Communists and the British gives a bitter-sweet flavor to Sheridan’s brilliant portraits of the individuals who played a role on both sides." (Jasper Becker, author of The Chinese)

"Deeply researched and beautifully written, Sheridan's book provides a fresh perspective on the extraordinary story of Hong Kong. His depiction of the motives, fears, internal struggles and negotiating tactics of the Chinese officials who dealt with Hong Kong is a revelation, with broader lessons for a world watching the rise of China.... Essential reading for anyone interested in the saga of a city whose fate has dominated the headlines." (Mike Chinoy, former CNN Senior Asia Correspondent and Beijing Bureau Chief)

"Impressive.... Fascinating." (Sunday Times)

More from the same

What listeners say about The Gate to China

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, shame about pronunciation

The book is excellent. It is however marred by the narrator’s inability to pronounce many names and even some English words. Maclehose, McLeod and Tamar are just some of the mangled names. I’m sorry, but that’s poor work.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Highly informative and gripping read

This is a thoroughly well-researched book which tells a story which is not as well known as it should be in the West. Of particular interest is the history of the Chinese side of the negotiation with Britain over the return of Hong Kong, the importance attached initially by (most of) the upper echelons of the Chinese state to preserving HK's status as a commercial center and the waning of this consideration as China itself grew into an economic superpower.

The audiobook is let down by copious mispronunciations, of simple words like acerbic, bulwark, ebullient and demurred. The mispronunciation of proper names such as MacLehose, Walden and Purves suggests that the reader is not familiar with these people.. We can be sure that William Collins would have had a proof reader review the written book before publication. They should have done the same with the audiobook.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

find another narrator

A really good book but the narration is tedious and monotone with so many basic mistakes it becomes quite distracting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful