The Last of the Proconsuls

the long version

A collection of Sir James Robertson's letters to Graham Thomas over nearly 40 years. The letters serve as historical documents with insight into the problems of the end of empire, notably in the Sudan, but covering a wide field of post-imperial history as seen by one of the greatest figures in imperial government. The letters also show the development of a friendship between two very different people: Sir James Robertson, with the impeccable proconsular credentials of Merchiston College, Edinburgh, commission in the Gordon Highlanders and the Black Watch, Balliol College, Oxford, the Sudan Political Service, Civil Secretary in the Sudan and later Governor-General of Nigeria; and Graham Thomas, the socialist, pacifist, teacher and education official.