It forms the fifth volume of the twelve-volume sequence A Dance to the Music of Time, and was originally published in 1960[1] Many of the events of the novel were included in the television adaptation broadcast on the United Kingdom's Channel 4 in 1997, comprising part of the second of four episodes.

As with several of the earlier volumes, there is a time-overlap with previous books, the first part returning to the period before the death of Mr. Deacon.

[2] However, Casanova's Chinese Restaurant concentrates on a new set of characters, principally the composer Hugh Moreland, (based on Powell's close friend Constant Lambert),[3] his fiancée Matilda, and the critic Maclintick and his wife, Audrey, whose unhappy marriage forms a key part of the narrative.

The interweaving of historical with fictional events is more notable here, and is used to illuminate the characters, as for example in Erridge's ill-considered departure for the Spanish Civil War.

[4] Casanova's Chinese Restaurant is dedicated to Harry & Rosie- Henry d'Avigdor-Goldsmid and Rosie, Lady d’Avigdor Goldsmid.