This book begins with the origins and negotiation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration then turns to the immediate aftermath following its signature on 19 December 1984 and entry into force on 27 May 1985. That aftermath was a period during which the colonial administration pushed actively for democratic reform, following the conclusion of the Sino-British Joint Declaration but before Hong Kong was handed over on 1 July 1997. I have endeavoured to let recently declassified files speak for themselves. The result is not always as focused as one might like. There is a higgledy-piggledy quality which is common in any protracted treaty negotiation. Plans had to change, new makeshift plans enacted and adaptation became both frequent and necessary. In all this, China’s negotiators might come across as certain and confident but this is only because, but for the occasional speaking role granted to them in the UK records, the files show little other than the silent, gleaming splendour of the national emblem above the Zhongnanhai’s South Gate. In stark contrast, doubt and frailty, even occasional bigotry at the rag end of colonialism, is laid bare in the files from the National Archives.