“The freedom to explore with no borders has been a precious gift”
No Borders: Journeys Across Islands and Continents is the autobiography of eminent historian Professor Wang Gungwu. Respected the world over for his interpretation of the Sinic civilisation, he delves into his own annals to tell his story. From vantage points in Malaya, London, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, he has witnessed the trials and tribulations of China over the last 80 years — even as he devoted himself to studying its past.
This he accomplished alongside a career defined by exceptional leadership, which saw him rise to become the vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong from 1986 to 1995. Eventually landing in Singapore in 1996, he has spent the last 30 years on the island-state at the tip of a vast continent, attracted by its commitment to stability after navigating a life of order and disorder. This book is written in his signature elegant prose, bearing the hallmarksof the scholarly gentleman he is recognised to be, with echoes of an English literature style that was his first love. Finely balanced with personal anecdotes and perspectives of the chaordic times he lived through, No Borders is an insightful oeuvre into how a masterful history specialist came to be.
About The Author
Wang Gungwu is a university professor at the National University of Singapore and emeritus professor at the Australian National University. He holds a BA Hons and MA from the University of Malaya in Singapore; and PhD from SOAS University of London. He was a professor of history at the University of Malaya; professor of Far Eastern history at the Australian National University; and vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong. His recent publications include Home is not Here (2018); China Reconnects: Joining a Deep-Rooted Past to a New World Order (2019); Home is Where We Are (with Margaret Wang, 2020); Living with Civilisations: Reflections on Southeast Asia’s Local and National Cultures (2023); and Roads to Chinese Modernity: Civilisation and National Culture (2025).
