What We Are Reading Today: Fortune’s Bazaar

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Updated 28 May 2023
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What We Are Reading Today: Fortune’s Bazaar

Author: Vaudine England

This is a fascinating and exhaustive look at how one of the most famous cities in the world as created and how it shaped the fortunes of nations. without hong Kong history would have been very different.
A British crown colony for 155 years, Hong Kong is now ruled by the Chinese Communist party. Renowned journalist Vaudine England delves into Hong Kong’s complex history and its people—diverse, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan—who have made this one-time fishing village into the world port city it is today.
Rather than a traditional his- tory describing a town led by British governors or a mere offshoot of a collapsing Chinese empire, fortune’s bazaar is the first thorough examination of the varied peoples who made hong Kong.

 


What We Are Reading Today: Writing Timbuktu

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Updated 25 January 2026
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What We Are Reading Today: Writing Timbuktu

  • In “Writing Timbuktu,” Shamil Jeppie offers a history of the book as a handwritten, handmade object in West Africa

Author: Shamil Jeppie

Printed books did not reach West Africa until the early 20th century. And yet, between the 15th and 20th centuries, literate and curious readers throughout the region found books to read — books that were written and copied by hand.

In “Writing Timbuktu,” Shamil Jeppie offers a history of the book as a handwritten, handmade object in West Africa.

Centering his account in the historic city of Timbuktu, Jeppie explores the culture of the “manuscript-book” — unbound pages, often held together by carefully crafted leather covers.