This book explores the decision of the British Empire to import Chinese labour to southern Africa despite the already tense racial situation in the region. It enables a clearer understanding of racial and political developments in southern Africa during the reconstruction period and places localised issues within a wider historiography.

Published in 1922, this book provides a history of the era as well as making reference to Britain’s colonial past. Egerton discusses British policies in her territories, as well as trials and tribulations that faced the British Empires influence at the dawn of the twentieth century.