NYASALAND - THE BRITISH COLONIAL RECORD TO 1939 (Hardcover)

The British Colonial Record to 1939 This history of British colonial rule in Nyasaland, now Malawi, from 1891 up to the outbreak of the Second World War, is based on extensive research in government archives as well as information obtained from newspapers and missionary letters. It briefly tracks how the territory came under British rule and then focuses in more detail than previous studies on how Whitehall treated this highly individual but easily neglected territory and how this fitted into the broader British African context. At the local level there is also closer examination, both critical and sympathetic, of the personalities and performances of successive Governors and their administrative staff in relation to economic, social and security policy, within cripplingly small budgets. The activities of the small European commercial, planting and missionary community are also closely followed for their political influence and contribution to the colonial economy. Although the small Indian community had little political voice, its position as a regular petty commercial element in the country is also considered. Crucially, this history incorporates the political, social and economic impact of colonialism on the African population, including the shock of the First World War. David Thompson is an amateur historian whose first and probably only book this is. His career at GCHQ spanned 38 years, with a late year attached to the Ministry of Defence. He lives in Cheltenham.