This book explores the history of the English language in China from the arrival of the first English-speaking traders in the early seventeenth century to the present. Kingsley Bolton brings together and examines a substantial body of historical, linguistic and sociolinguistic research on the description and analysis of English in Hong Kong and China. He uses early wordlists, satirical cartoons and data from journals and memoirs, as well as more conventional sources, to uncover the forgotten history of English in China and to show how contemporary Hong Kong English has its historical roots in Chinese pidgin English. The book also considers the varying status of English in mainland China over time, and recent developments since 1997. With its interdisciplinary perspective, the book will appeal not only to linguists, but to all those working in the fields of Asian studies and English studies, including those concerned with cultural and literary studies.

著名語言學傢，多年從事英語文學、語言與全球化、社會語言學的研究。曾任斯德哥爾摩大學英語係主任並在香港大學英語係任教二十多年。現為香港城市大學英語係主任、首席教授。主要著作有《世界英語和中國英語》、《中國式英語——一部社會語言學史》、《亞洲英語》等。