This work is based in a time when the British Empire was at its most powerful and self-confident, and Lord Palmerston was at his prime, robust and energetic enough to investigate affairs as apparently minor as that of Rio Nunez. The problem concerned two British traders - Braithwaite and Martin - whose enterprise on the Rio Nunez in West Africa had been attacked by Belgian trading rivals. Palmerston's personal handling of their complaints - in the midst of high affairs of state - is detailed in this account, based on extensive research and new material. It is a portrait of imperial power at its height.

Roderick Braithwaite is a researcher and writer specialising in Palmerston.