Alexander Graham – A Most Interesting Governor
Posted: February 1st, 2012 | No Comments »Alexander Grantham
With a new introduction by Lord Wilson of Tillyorn
Echoes: Classics of Hong Kong Culture and History series
January 2012  244 pp. 36 b/w illus.
Paperback ISBN 978-988-8083-85-5Â HK$180 / US$25.00
“A lively, witty, candid and invaluable guide to understanding the mentality of colonial administration at its highest levels. Like all long-serving colonial governors Grantham was treated almost as a demi-god in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong, and it was only when he had his toes trodden on in a crowded railway carriage while on leave in England that he was powerfully reminded of how ordinary he really was.” — Steve Tsang, author of A Modern History of Hong Kong
- By Alexander Grantham (è‘›é‡æ´ª), one of the most important Hong Kong colonial governors whose decade was a very eventful one — postwar reconstruction, 1949 revolution, huge increase in population and industrialization.
– An important first-hand account of the workings of Britain’s colonial system; also contains vivid anecdotes about life behind the scenes in Government House.
- A very readable, personal informal memoir — quite humorous in places.
Sir Alexander Grantham began his career in the British colonial service as a cadet in Hong Kong in 1922. He served in Bermuda, Jamaica and Nigeria, and as Governor of Fiji before returning to Hong Kong as Governor in 1947 until his retirement in 1957.
Leave a Reply