Sir Glyn Jones, as last governor of Nyasaland, oversaw the transition of the country to Malawi. Involving widespread unrest, the removal of a governor, a state of emergency and commission of enquiry from London, these were some of the most stormy episodes in the story of the end of the empire. This biography, based on original sources, including the Glyn Jones papers to which the author had first and exclusive access, reveals Jones' relationship with Hastings Banda in a new and controversial light.

Glittering success and near tragedy were the nodal points of Sir Robert Armitage's career during the turbulent final years of empire. Few colonial administrators reached the top so well prepared, yet after only nineteen months as Governor of Cyprus he was peremptorily replaced by a military governor, and only narrowly escaped being replaced prematurely as Governor of Nyasaland. The author draws on his unique access to Armitage's diaries, letters and private papers, and on numerous interviews and correspondence with Armitage's colleagues and friends; on the newly-opened Macmillan papers, and...