The development of Hong Kong over the past half century has been almost miraculous. Gordon Jones is one of the British officials in the Hong Kong government who straddled the 1997 shift from British to Chinese sovereignty, helping to guide and enable the transformation. During a unique career of 34 years, he filled a wide variety of senior positions, including the District Officer for the Kowloon City District when he was involved in the top secret planning to clear the Kowloon Walled City and his final posting as the Registrar of Companies.

This memoir offers a rich retelling of the political landscapes that defined his life and the challenge of adapting to a city and culture not his own, but which became his home. He played an important role in shaping Hong Kong's identity, particularly in planning and initiating the rewriting of Hong Kong's company law an important element in ensuring the city's strength and status as a major international financial and business centre today, corporate governance reform and the modernisation and computerisation of the Companies Registry.

Among the ins and outs of Hong Kong's governance from the 1970s, through 1997 and into the 2010s, Gordon reflects on change, uncertainty and the anchor of his British roots.