Let There Be Light

Reviews / Votes

Let There Be Light is a cultural, business, and political history of the world's single most indispensable technology-electricity generation-in a great city that it helped create. This elegantly written, deeply researched, and thoughtful book offers, in microcosm, a global vision of development, finance, and state engagement with the economy. -- Thomas W. Laqueur, author of <i>The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains</i> An insightful and vivid history. Mark Clifford challenges the conventional view of Hong Kong as a laissez-faire state. He shows instead the complex and successful collaboration between its government and its most important industry-electricity. At the center stands Lawrence Kadoorie-a colonial British capitalist at the door of communist China, a Jewish entrepreneur in a city riven with antisemitism. This is a valuable history of business and of technology-and of Hong Kong's and China's rise. -- Jonathan Kaufman, author of <i>The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China</i> Beautifully written and rich in fascinating detail, Let There Be Light tells the history of China Light & Power-a company that shaped modern Hong Kong. With scholarly rigor and a journalist's flair for storytelling, Clifford chronicles the central role a company and its people played in building one of the world's great cities. An impressive achievement and essential reading for anyone interested in electricity markets, Hong Kong history, or the relationship between businesses and governments more broadly. -- David Sandalow, author of <i>Guide to Chinese Climate Policy</i> [An] excellent overview of the electrification process in this dynamic Asian city. * Technology and Culture * Enlightening, yes, but enjoyable too. * Shanghai Literary Review *