Wong skilfully weaves his father’s and his uncle’s stories into an account of his own experiences in China, in a way that is deeply satisfying. At the Edge of Empire is valuable both on a political and a personal level.

Told with a filial devotion that is consistently tender, never mawkish.

A family narrative, but one to which he consciously brings a reporter’s sensibility.

Ambitious and unusual.

Fascinating, ambitiously textured.