Comfort Not Included: Life and Work in Far-Flung Corners of the British Empire

Colonial officials posted to the Gilbert Islands were advised to employ a full-time fisherman -- otherwise they would have no food. Single men going to British Honduras knew that no government quarters were available and boarding houses were 'exceedingly poor.' Those working in British Somaliland depended for their safety on a locally recruited and not entirely reliable camel corps. Living on the Gold Coast meant taking quinine every day of your term. The colonial service household in the Falkland Islands needed to employ a local boy to chop and gather peat. Married men posted to some colonies were advised not to take their wives and children. While India was the British Empire's jewel in the crown, the empire that spanned the globe was also a jumble of ill-fitting and often difficult places over which the Union Jack fluttered. Their existence has largely been forgotten, but in their imperial days dedicated colonial officers gave much of their lives -- and sometimes their health-- while posted to far-flung and inhospitable postings. This book brings these stories, and the people in them, back to life.

Robin Bromby has been a journalist and writer since 1962 . He has written books on a variety of historical topics.