The Years of Hope

After Cambridge, in 1938, Philip Snow left the first-class cricket field and sailed halfway around the world to pursue a Colonial Service career. His work in Fiji could hardly have been more varied: Commissioner, Magistrate, Officer-in-Charge-of-Police, Superintendent of Gaols, Reciever of Wrecks and Colonial Secretary. He was joined by his fiancee, just before the exotic setting was shattered by the Pacific War. After Pearl Harbor and the fall of Singapore, Fiji was virtually surrounded by the Japanese. Philip Snow was Government Liaison Officer during this critical period. The presence of C.P. Snow, his elder brother, exerted a powerful influence on Philip's life during this time. This is a record of the flavour of British experience in the colonies. Overshadowing all is the theme of racial harmony, mutual tolerance and distant respect which informed Snow's life.