Malcolm MacDonald (1901-1981) played a central role in the decolonization of the British Empire. The son of Britain's first Socialist prime minister, Ramsay MacDonald, Malcolm soon emerged from his father's shadow to take a crucial political and diplomatic part in the shaping of the Commonwealth. In this first biography of a highly unusual public figure, Clyde Sanger gives a full account of both MacDonald's working life, from early successes in Ireland to a crashing failure over Palestine, and his complex private life.

As colonial secretary MacDonald moved British colonial policy from a laissez-faire attitude to a developmental view; he was responsible for creating the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund, the first aid program. His last Cabinet post was as health minister during the London blitz, where he worked with Winston Churchill. Sent to Canada as British high commissioner, MacDonald became Mackenzie King's confidant during the conscription crisis, the Gouzenko spy revelations, and the American "occupation" during the building of the Alaska Highway. His greatest work was done during his fourteen years in Asia, most notably in preparing Malaya's different racial groups for independence and mending fences between India and Britain after the Suez invasion of 1956.

MacDonald's skill as a negotiator came from a combination of hard work, patience, and a great sense of fun and humanity. Walking on his hands around Nehru, swapping bird-watching tales with de Valera, discussing Chinese ceramics with Marshal Chen Yi, or playing nursery games with Jomo Kenyatta and the Iban head-hunter family who adopted him, he charmed his way to a remarkable series of diplomatic successes.