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Editor of
A British Tale of Indian and Foreign Service:
The Memoirs of Sir Ian Scott

This fascinating memoir describes a time when Britain's global standing was coming increasingly under threat. From the comparative security of the 1930s, Ian Scott takes us into the uncertainties of a post-war world. At this time, the British Empire, fatally weakened during the second World war, faced dismemberment and collapse as the Cold War gathered pace. In the process, we follow Scott's career from his schooldays in Trinidad to the north-west frontier of India, from Delhi to Beirut, from the Sudan to Norway.

With wry humour, and including material not before made public, A British Tale of Indian and Foreign Service sheds new light on the day-to-day routine of imperial administration as well as providing insights into the unfolding of great historical events. Scott demonstrates a shrewd judgement and a keen eye for the ridiculous. Working closely with such significant historical players as India's last two viceroys, Wavell and Mountbatten, he makes us vividly aware of the foibles as well as the noble qualities of each man. Scott's interpretation of the machinations that surrounded Indian independence and the post-partition communal massacres add much more to our understanding of these tragic events.

This memoir reveals a wealth of fascinating and unexpected details of the daily routine of a young British official ruling a part of India half the size of Wales. this does much to explain the workings of a colonial administration that attempted to graft a political culture shaped shaped in Britain onto environments which could not have been more different from Westminster and Whitehall. Officials attempted to provide good and impartial government and, wit the prevailing political attitudes of their times, they by and large succeeded. The stories of Sir Ian's time as a diplomat on Africa, the Middle East and Europe are equally revealing and instructive. The memoirs of Sir Ian Scott are an important contribution to our understanding of Britain's history from before the Second Wold war until the late 1960s. This is very much a work for the general reader as well as for the historical and diplomatic specialist.

Reviews

"His memoirs provide a valuable firsthand account of an important part of British history, which for historians and researchers, remains a source of fascination and interest."
- Victoria Scholfield, Asian Affairs