香港海防博物館的前身是舊鯉魚門炮台。這個炮台不僅是百多年前香港最具規模的防禦工事，更是1941年香港保衛戰的一個重要戰場。時至今日，炮台已改建成為博物館，保存和展示香港過去六百年的海防歷史。
白德博士在1990年代初就舊鯉魚門炮台進行全面研究，並親赴英國考察不同的軍事單位、博物館和海岸防禦工事，以準備籌建香港海防博物館。本書就是以其早年研究舊鯉魚門炮台的原稿資料及本地海防設施的論文結集而成，內容涵蓋1841至1986年期間關於駐港英軍、海岸防衛和鯉魚門兵房的歷史，讓讀者對英治時期的香港海防歷史有更深入的了解。
The Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence (HKMCD) is formerly known as the Lei Yue Mun (LYM) Fort, which was the most formidable fortifications in the territory built more than a century ago. It was also an important battlefield during the Battle for Hong Kong in 1941. Today it has been revitalized as a Museum to preserve and present the 600-year history of Hong Kong's coastal defences.
In the early 1990s, Dr Bard visited various military establishments, museums and coastal fortifications in Britain, and conducted a comprehensive study of the old LYM Fort as part of the preparations for the planning of the HKMCD.This publication includes his original Notes on the information of the old LYM Fort and research papers on local coastal defences. It covers the period from 1841 to 1986 within which the subject is further sub-divided into events related to the garrison, the coastal defences, and LYM, which give the readers a deeper understanding of the history of local coastal defences during the British Administration.
