Palmer and Turner is one of the oldest firms of architects and engineers in the world. Its birthplace and present home is Hong Kong, where it was founded by William Salway in 1868 - in the Ching Dynasty - only 25 years after the Territory was ceded to Britain.

The partnership's personalities and buildings have been inextricably woven into the tapestry of South-East Asian history - from Shanghai through Hong Kong and Singapore down as far as Rangoon, Madras and Sydney.

The book takes a brief, but not too serious look at the first 100 years of the firm's existence.