One Fine Day: Britain's Empire on the Brink

A portrait of the British Empire at both the peak of its global reach and the moment it began to topple n September 29, 1923. Once the Palestine Mandate officially takes effect, the British Empire--now covering a quarter of the world's land and boasting a population of 460 million--is the largest the world has ever seen. But it is also an empire in rapid transition. n n Nationalist and Pan-African movements are gaining momentum throughout West Africa, thanks as much to Marcus Garvey as to the sustained efforts of local activists and politicians. n n On far-flung Ocean Island in the Pacific, highly profitable phosphate extraction threatens to render the land uninhabitable for its native population--and colonial officials are torn between their integrity and their careers. n n And in India, Jawaharlal Nehru and fellow nationalists wonder despairingly about the future of the independence movement as Gandhi languishes in prison. n n Moving from London to Kuala Lumpur, Australia to the West Indies, One Fine Day is a breathtaking and unflinching tour of the British Empire at its pinnacle. Here the Empire is at its biggest; but it is on a precipice, beset with debts and doubts as liberation movements emerge to undo the colonial era, and see the sun set on the Empire.n