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BOOK REVIEWS
Voices From the Past
Hong Kong Daily
Solamon Bari
Solomon Bard (2002), Voices From the Past: Hong Kong 1842-1918. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 383 pages, with a Message from Joseph Ting, $250.
Quoting from Joseph Ting's Message, ...there are various approaches to the study of history. In Voices From the Past: Hong Kong 1842-1918, Dr Solomon Bard has chosen to view Hong Kong's history through the columns of newspapers as before. Through these the time - an approach which has perhaps not been sufficiently explored newspaper excerpts, people from the past speak directly to us expressing contemporary views, ideas, daily concerns, both important and trivial. Although compiled from the English-language newspapers only, I believe it is still a valuable contribution to our knowledge and appreciation of this period of Hong Kong's history.'
Solly's book is, essentially, a series of extracts from English-language newspapers of the period, accompanied in many instances by editorial comments - and sanctimonious sermonising on occasions - by himself. The trouble with history is that it is all too easy to comment upon it using today's "values" (which in many cases are not better - and oftentimes worse than those that they superseded) rather than the values of the day.
The question, of course, is are we to believe the newspapers of the 19th and early 20th centuries any more than we believe them now? The term "newspaper" has become increasingly a contradiction in terms, with the media's inclination to comment on the news rather than report it. This is easy if one is a frontline spectator, not directly involved.