This is a moving and important memoir of a district officer in Northern Rhodesia, from his arrival in the territory in 1944 and through the momentous period leading to Zambian independence. It includes a spell as Kenneth Kaunda's 'gaoler' during which a personal friendship grew up and flourished, and ends with an appointment to the President's Office in post-independence Zambia. It is the story of British colonial administration-the 'daily round' of a district officer's life-the nationalist struggle and the formative period of an independent African state and, most importantly, one of close and enduring friendship.