History Books
The Macanese people, despite their strong sense of history, have never written much about it in English. Until recently there have only been a few books in English, mainly by foreigners. These are among them, listed alphabetically under authors.
Instituto Cultural de Macau, Museu Centro de Estudos Marítimos de Macau 1934 – I was in Macau during the War (Copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong)
J Dyer Ball, Macao the Holy City, The Gem of the Orient Earth China Baptist Publication Service, 1905 – This is a brief, well-written account of Macau at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Tony Banham
Not the Slightest Chance: The Defence of Hong Kong, 1941; UBC Press, 2003
We Shall Suffer There: Hong Kong’s Defenders Imprisoned, 1942-45; ISBN: 9622099602 Hong Kong University Press, 2009
Augusto de Souza Barbeiro, Cadastro das Vias e Outros Lugares Públicos de Cidade de Macau 1925 – Streets and other public places in Macau. In Portuguese; copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong
CR Boxer
Fidalgos in the Far East, 1550-1770. Fact and Fancy in the History of Macao Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands, 1948 (Copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong)
Four Centuries of Portuguese Expansion, 1415-1825: a succinct survey University of California Press, Berkeley, 1969
Portuguese Conquest and Commerce in Southern Asia: 1500-1750 Variorum Reprints, London, 1985
The Portuguese seaborne empire, 1415-1825. The great scholar wrote many books bearing on the history of Macau. This one, republished as a Penguin, sets Macau into the context of the astonishing rise and slow decline of the Portuguese empire.
Portuguese Society in the Tropics University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee USA, 1965
Race Relations in the Portuguese Colonial Empire 1415-1825 Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1963
Women in Iberian Expansion Overseas 1415 – 1815 Oxford University Press,New York, 1975
Seventeenth Century Macao in Contemporary Documents and Illustrations Ed. and translated by CR Boxer. Heinemann (Asia) Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore 1984 (Copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong)
JP Braga, The Portuguese in Hongkong and China: their beginning, settlement and progress during one hundred years Macau, Fundação Macau, 1998 -First published 1944, revised by Barnabas HM Koo, University of Macau, 2013 ISBN 978-99965-1-037-3IMG.
Melania Dawn Cannon Experience, Memory and the Construction of the Past: Remembering Macau 1941-1945 Master of Arts Thesis, Department of History, University of British Columbia, Aug 2001
Catherine S Chan, ‘Empire’ Drifters: The Macanese in British Hong Kong, 1841-1941 PhD Thesis, University of Bristol, July 2019
The Chinese Repository Vol III (From May 1834 to April 1835) Canton, Printed for the Proprietors 1835
Austin Coates
Macao and the British. Oxford University Press, 1988, reprinted, Hong Kong University Press, 2009.
A Macao Narrative Heinemann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd. Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur 1978, reprinted, Hong Kong University Press, 2009. – A short and very readable history. Coates retraces the discovery of the sea route to the Far East and the subsequent foundation of Macao as a Portuguese enclave in 1557. The last chapter, Macao’s finest hour, tells the story of Macao’s role in World War II as a haven of refuge for many thousands. Copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong.
GB Endacott, History of Hong Kong This standard history was first published in 1958, and re-issued in 1995 with four new chapters. It is now very dated, but no other general history of Hong Kong has so far been written to supersede it. There is occasional reference to the Portuguese community.
Eddie Gosano, (Publ. Greg England), Hong Kong Farewell Special Limited Edition 1977 (Copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong). Read Extract
Les Fisher, I Will Remember – Recollections and Reflections on Hong Kong 1941 to 1945 – Internment and Freedom ISBN 1-85741-038-6, Hobbs the Printers, Hampshire, Great Britain, December 1996. Diary of a POW in the Shamshuipo Camp< ISBN 1-85741-038-6, Hobbs the Printers, Hampshire, Great Britain, December 1996. – Diary of a POW in the Shamshuipo Camp
Penelope Forster, From Prison Camp to Priesthood Seaview Press –A biography of José “Zinho” Gosano; copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong
António Pinto da Franca, Portuguese Influence in Indonesia Gunung Agung 1970 Djakarta (Copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong). Includes reference to the patuá in Indonesia that has remarkable similarity to that of Macau.
Peter Grills, Família Ribeiro Pirion Digital, Fyshwick, ACT ISBN 978 1 74027 488 3, 2008 -Biography of the Ribeiro and Nolasco da Silva families. In English
A Guide to Catholic Shanghai Catholic Churches and Schools in Shanghai in 1937
Cesar Guillen-Nuñez, Macau Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1984. -A brief and well-illustrated introduction to the history of Macau in fewer than 70 pages.
José de Aquino Guimares e Freitas, Memoria sobre Macao Coimbra, na Real Imprensa da Universidade, 1828. Memoirs of an Aritillery officer stationed in Macau between 1815 and 1822 (in Portuguese).
Susanna Hoe, The Private Life of Old Hong Kong. Western Women in the British Colony 1841-1941 Hong Kong, Oxford University Press, 1995
Hongkong Almanack 1846 pp1-19; from HK Almanacks we have extracted a List of Portuguese residents, with their addresses and occupations.
M. Huang, Sons of La Salle Everyone : a History of La Salle College and Primary School, 1932-2007 Hong Kong, La Salle College Old Boys’ Association, 2007. – In its early years, La Salle’s students were mainly Macanese boys. This recent history is superbly illustrated and presented.
Harold Ingrams, Who are the true citizens? Extract from Hong Kong, pp 249-251, London, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1952
Album Macau – People, Places and Experiences ISBN 972 9418 02 0, Livros do Oriente Macau, 1990 – A collection of historical photographs. In Portuguese and English
Album Macau 1844-1974 Fundacão Oriente, 1990 – A collection of historical photographs. Published in Portuguese and English versions
Album Macau – Memória da Cidade (Glimpses of the Past) Direcção dos Serviços de Turismo, Livros do Oriente, Macau – A collection of historical photographs. Published in Portuguese and English
The Portuguese – An Outline History of their Origin and their Voyages of Discovery Published by the author, San Rafael, CA, USA October 1996
The Portuguese Community in Hong Kong: A Pictorial History : an illustrated history, volume 1: 2007, volume 2: 2010 Conselho das Comunidades Macaenses and Instituto Internacional de Macau, 2007 -A collection of photographs with historical notes. These important books do much to record and celebrate the people who over several generations came from Macau to make a new life in the nearby British colony.
The Portuguese Community in Shanghai : A Pictorial History 2010 Conselho das Comunidades Macaenses and Instituto Internacional de Macau, 2012 – A collection of photographs with historical notes.
Diaspora Macaense to California Associação Promotora da Instrução dos Macaenses, ISBN 978-99937-995-0-4, 2009
Bernard Koo, In search of a better world: a social history of the Macaenses in China MA Honours Thesis, University of Western Sydney, 2000
Andrew Ljungstedt, An Historical Sketch of the Portuguese Settlements in China First published James Munroe & Co, Boston: 1836 – Ljungstedt, who had lived in Macau for several years, wrote with insight about this unique city, and was not blind to its faults.
Lusitano History – 150 years of the Lusitano Club in Hong Kong
Leonor Sá Machado, Lesser Known Historical Stories of Macau Macau Style, 7 July 2020
Chozo Muto, The Omura Manuscript
Maria Ng, Pilgrimages: Memories of Colonial Macau and Hong Kong Hong Kong University Press, 2009. – A collection of essays on Portuguese Macau and British Hong Kong. It depicts many humorous and painful episodes navigating family politics and her inter cultural pilgrimages from adolescent romances to professional life.
Pela Patria (“For the Fatherland”, a phrase from the Portuguese National Anthem) was a monthly Magazine published in 1940-41 by the Portuguese community in Shanghai. About half of the articles are in Portuguese and half in English. It captured an invaluable record of the life and people in that city, four years after occupation by the Japanese in 1937, and contains many photos of Macanese (unfortunately, of poor quality). The community there, feeling under threat and obviously economically stressed and insecure, tried hard to maintain their Portuguese identity and cohesion with articles on Portuguese history and culture, through social events, and by promoting lessons on the Portuguese language. But it could not last: with the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific in December 1941 the whole community dispersed, never to reassemble.
We are fortunate that a bound copy of the entire series survives in the JM Braga Collection in the National Library of Australia. Its hundreds of pages were laboriously photographed by Dr Stuart Braga and reproduced here.
Click to see its contents, which provide links to individual pages of the magazine and, for the Private website, hundreds of links to peoples’ Personal Pages. Descendants of Macanese from Shanghai will enjoy browsing through the magazine and may even find mention of their relatives.
Pela Patria A monthly Magazine published in 1940-41 by the Portuguese community in Shanghai. About half of the articles are in Portuguese, the rest in English. It provides valuable insight into life in that city, four years after occupation by the Japanese in 1937, and contains many photos of Macanese. The community there, feeling under threat and obviously economically stressed and insecure, tried hard to maintain their Portuguese identity and cohesion with articles on Portuguese history and culture, through social events, and by promoting lessons on the Portuguese language. But it could not last: with the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific in December 1941 the whole community dispersed, never to reassemble.
Alexandra Sofia Rangel Filhos da Terra – A comunidade Macaense, Ontem e Hoje (Sons of the land, the Macanese community, yesterdaly and today). IIM Macau
Vasco Rocha Vieira, Todos os portos a que cheguei Dec 2010 Pedro Vieira/Grapa Publicações, S.A. – An important book by the last Portuguese Governor of Macau. There are several chapters on Macau.
Jonathan Porter, Macau: The Imaginary City–Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present 240 pp. Boulder CO, Westview Press, 1996
Luis Andrade de Sá, Portugueses em Hong Kong (The Portuguese in Hong Kong) Fundação Oriente : Instituto Cultural de Macau, 1999. In Portuguese. An English translation of this important book has been made by Alberto Guterres, but this remains unpublished.
Shanghai Times 23 February 1931. The Portuguese Company of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps
Portugal – Some Tales from her Past San Francisco, March 2003 (Copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong)
Todos os Nossos Passados (All Our Yesterdays) Collecção Extratextos, Livros do Oriente (undated) (Copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong)
The Macanese – A Legacy of Portugal – Our origins, our language, our food, our characteristics and our way of life
Padre Manuel Teixeira
Galeria de Macaenses Ilustres do Século XIX Imprensa Nacional Macau, 1942. (Gallery of Illustrious Macanese of the 19th Century. In Portuguese)
Imprensa Nacional Macau, 1979. (History of place-names in Macau. In Portuguese)
Templo Chinês da Barra Má-Kok-Miu Centro de Informação e Turismo, Macau, 1979 (The Barra Chinese Temple. In Portuguese.)
The Japanese in Macau ISBN 972-35-0095-7, Instituto Cultural de Macau, 1990 – In the 16th and 17th centuries, Christian Japanese found, in Macau, a home in exile and they left their mark on the architecture and art works of this city. It achieved an admirable fusion of two cultures – that of East and West. We are given details about these works and their history as well about the Japanese who lived and died in Macau. (Copy held in Library of Lusitano Club, Hong Kong. In English)
Jason Wordie, Macao: People and Places, Past and Present Angsana Ltd, Hong Kong 2013
Arnold Wright (Ed.), Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports in China Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company, 1908 – A huge and magnificently illustrated book about Europeans on the China coast at the high point of imperialism, including a chapter on Macau.
Melchior Yvan, Six Months among the Malays and a Year in China London: James Blackwood 1855 (a fascinating book which includes a chapter on Macau, digitised by Google)