This is a study of a ""development governor"" in Nyasaland (now Malawi) in the period leading up to decolonization and the end of empire. Geoffrey Colby came to Nyasaland at a particularly difficult time - when the important white settler community was pressing for the Central African Federation and therefore closer ties with white-dominated Southern Rhodesia, a move resisted by growing African nationalism. He was always aware of the danger of ""another Mau Mau"" and handled the problems associated with the decolonization process with sensitivity and vigour.
The biography shows Geoffrey Colby as an efficient and humane official who was concerned above all with development issues while being aware of the tension between the economically dominant white settler community and the emerging class of African nationalists.