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A biography of Sir Geoffrey Colby, governor of Nyasaland (now Malawi) from 1948 to 1956. It deals in the initial chapters with his early family life in England and his early professional life in Nigeria, periods which helped to form him as someone who would become a distinguished colonial civil servant and an outstanding Development Governor. Distributed in the US and Canada by St. Martin's Press. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Book Description
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.

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