James Hayes is a scholar of the Hong Kong region and its people. In his thirty-two years of government service he served in the New Territories almost half the time, and was Regional Secretary New Territories, heading the District Administration there in 1985–87. His publications include Friends and Teachers: Hong Kong and Its People 1953–87 (Hong Kong University Press, 1996) and The Hong Kong Region: Institutions and Leadership in Town and Countryside (1977, reprinted by Hong Kong University Press, 2012).

• Preface to the Paperback Edition(第ix頁)
• Preface(第xv頁)
• Abbreviations and Romanization(第xix頁)
• Introduction(第1頁)
• Chapter 1 The Leased Territory in 1898(第5頁)
Chapter 2 The Existing British Crown Colony and “the Great Difference”(第17頁)
Chapter 3 Survey, Land Court, Registration, and Customary Law(第29頁)
Chapter 4 “Give and Take” in the New Territory up to 1941(第43頁)
Chapter 5 New Territories People and the Japanese Occupation 1941–1945(第59頁)
Chapter 6 An End to Subsistence Farming: Opening the Way for Urban Development and Country Parks(第71頁)
Chapter 7 Village Removals for Water Schemes 1923–1974: Resitings and Compensation(第85頁)
Chapter 8 Village Removals for New Town Development 1960 Onward: Resitings and New Modes of Compensation(第97頁)
Chapter 9 The Rural Contribution to Community Building in the New Towns, and Its Background(第115頁)
Chapter 10 Village Communities in Change(第127頁)
Chapter 11 Identities: Staying Chinese during the Lease(第145頁)
Chapter 12 Convergence and Divergence: A Deteriorating Relationship(第159頁)
Notes(第179頁)
Bibliography(第261頁)
Glossary(第281頁)
Index(第285頁)