On Crown Service fills a large gap in the historical literature on the British Empire and will be used widely as a work of reference as well as for a history of the Colonial Service. It is a balanced and thorough account of a subject that no other than Kirk-Greene could have written. I am listing it among the 20 most important works on the British Empire in the twentieth century. Published to commemorate the centenary of the Corona Club in 1999 and to mark the end of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Services, this is the only institutional history of the Colonial Service to appear for over sixty years. Anthony Kirk-Greene has combined an extensive use of archival records and historical documentation with an unparalleled knowledge of secondary sources to produce a detailed, authoritative narrative of this most important era. This work will appeal to all historians and general readers with an interest in Britain's Colonial Service. It is destined to become the standard study of its history...