Life After Flash

Tracing the career of former Colonial Officer and European Administrator Keith Arrowsmith, this politically-charged memoir explores life in war-time India, post-war in Malaya and Singapore, Nigeria, Uganda and Hong Kong. The author's portrait of a life in service, both as a military officer and as a political administrator, opens a window into distinctive periods of international history across Africa and Asia and the birth of European democracy following the inclusion in 1973 of the United Kingdom into the EEC. He has produced a thought-provoking work for those interested in colonial history in Africa and Asia, Ugandan Independence, the ethics of military service and the workings of the European Union. Contrasting the author's career in military service under the colonial empire with his diplomatic career in the EU, the book exposes the extent to which Britain's role has changed over the last century, and questions how theories of international power are practiced in reality. The question remains a pertinent one today.