Enigmatic Proconsul

Sir Philip Mitchell has a distinguished career in the British Colonial Service during the latter stages of Empire. He was Governor of Uganda and Fiji, High Commissioner of the Western Pacific and finally Governor of Kenya. During World War II, he administered the former Italian territories in East Africa and had the rank of Major General. Mitchell was in the forefront of educational, economic, social and political reform and believed that human relations - especially race relations - were the key to progress in the Empire. However, his final years in Kenya were overshadowed by what appears to be a faulty reading of the political situation - a failure to appreciate the power of the Mau Mau. This book surveys his career contrasting the final years with the years of achievement, examines the problems that beset him and defends his record. Frost is the author of a study of Kenya, "Race Against Time".