The author was educated at Michaelhouse and Rhodes University, South Africa, and Worcester College, Oxford. From 1953 until 1967 he was Professor of Political Studies in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. From 1968 until 1990 he was Fellow and Tutor in Politics of Worcester College, Oxford, of which he is now and Emeritus Fellow. His previous writings include British Government, 1914-63: Select Documents, British Supremacy in South Africa, 1899-1907, Black and White in South Africa, and The Victorian Constitution.