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Robin Masefield – The World Administered by Irishmen: The Life and Times of Robert Hart and Irish Contemporaries in East Asia
March 7 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm GMT
Robin Masefield’s latest book, published by Queen’s University Belfast, is entitled The World Administered by Irishmen: The Life and Times of Robert Hart and Irish Contemporaries in East Asia.
While, the initial focus is on the Chinese Maritime Customs Service, and the Ulsterman Sir Robert Hart who led it for 45 years, the book brings together a treasure trove of other Irish people in East Asia – men from Ulster in the Customs Service; a nurse from Roscommon; a doctor from Cork; a diplomat from Meath; Hong Kong governors from Dublin; and many more. Using first-hand accounts where possible, the book vividly brings to life the special contribution that Irish men and women made to developing relations with China, Japan and Korea in the 19th century. It is illustrated with three hundred images.
Robin Masefield worked in Hong Kong in the 1980s, and this is his third book with an Asian focus. He was awarded the CBE in 2003.
Since retiring in Belfast in 2010, he has written a number of books, including three on aspects of local history in North Down.
He and his wife, Rosemary, moved to Surrey in autumn 2023. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society.
The book can be obtained online at www.blackstaffpress.com, or email specialcollections@qub.ac.uk.