One Fine Day

Britain's Empire on the Brink

By: Matthew Parker

Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe

This critical historical exploration shows a portrait of the British Empire at both the peak of its global reach—and the moment it began to topple.

September 29, 1923. Once the Palestine Mandate officially takes effect, the British Empire—now covering a quarter of the world’s land and boasting a population of 460 million—is the largest the world has ever seen. But it is also an empire in rapid transition.

Nationalist and Pan-African movements are gaining momentum throughout West Africa, thanks as much to Marcus Garvey as to the sustained efforts of local activists and politicians.

On far-flung Ocean Island in the Pacific, highly profitable phosphate extraction threatens to render the land uninhabitable for its native population—and colonial officials are torn between their integrity and their careers.

And in India, Jawaharlal Nehru and fellow nationalists wonder despairingly about the future of the independence movement as Gandhi languishes in prison.

Moving from London to Kuala Lumpur, Australia to the West Indies, One Fine Day is a breathtaking and unflinching tour of the British Empire at its pinnacle. Here the Empire is at its biggest; but it is on a precipice, beset with debts and doubts as liberation movements emerge to undo the colonial era, and see the sun set on the Empire.

Critic reviews

“There is something Shakespearian about Matthew Parker’s insightful argument that it was at exactly the time the British Empire reached its greatest territorial size that the factors coalesced which were to destroy it. Whether you regard the British Empire as an overall boon—as I do—or as an abomination, Parker has rendered a signal service by convincingly pinpointing the exact fulcrum moment in its half-millennium-long history.”—Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill

“Marvellous. Escapes the inane, balance-sheet view of empire and sees it in its full complexity.”—Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland

“Extraordinary. Parker’s magisterial sweep through one day of British imperial history and culture plunges us into the global complexity of the British Empire, bringing the world of a century ago to fresh, vivid life. An astonishing achievement.”—Alex von Tunzelmann, author of Indian Summer and Fallen Idols

“An engrossing and wide-ranging account of the zenith of the British Empire—with all the contradictions, brittleness, ambition and hubris that moment entailed. Across Continents and characters, Matthew Parker provides a new, global history of British imperialism which feels both epic and immediate.”—Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum

“Exquisitely crafted and beautifully written, full of delicious detail and extraordinary insight.”—Augustus Casely-Hayford, OBE, curator, cultural historian, and director of V&A East

“A panoramic view of the British Empire on September 29, 1923… Parker vividly demonstrates the empire’s vast reach and the ‘impossibly conflicting interests between government [and] the governed.’…Accessible and sturdy, this expansive account provides solid ground for understanding the decline of the British Empire. It’s an eye-opening and a unique vantage point from which to study 20th-century history.”—Publishers Weekly

“An ambitious history of the beginning of the end of vast dominions of the British Empire on Sept. 29, 1923… a multilayered portrait, with deep contextual background…An impressive work of research and synthesis tracing the end of an empire.”—Kirkus

Great Book / best narrator I’ve ever heard

Incredibly well written captivating and compelling narrative journey through the empire at its peak, with fascinating stories showing the level and depth of the authors research into the perspectives of the ruled and those who ruled over them, often justifying their hegemony through white supremacy, while also revealing where the cracks began to emerge ( comparative dream interpretation research ! for example ) in that philosophy.

And what a narrator ! Ben Onwukwe is a virtuoso of character interpretation and accents. He brings to life the vastly diverse people of the global empire, personifying their voices spanning race, class, geography and gender in a maestro performance.
This is how to do an audio book. Beautiful, exquisite production

Broad history

Strange reading style somewhat spoiled the experience: halting to the point where it was often difficult to know whether words were from tge end of one sentence or the beginning of the next

Excellent Grad School level history book

This book is a great on the ground history of the British Empire. I have listened to almost every major British Empire history on audible. This book has been the most detailed of the lot. Colonies that other books did not talk about were described in detail such as the Gilbert Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Jamaica and many others. This book is essentially a graduate school level book for those looking to do deep study on the late British Empire. If you are new to the Empire you may want to start with Sears or Morrison’s books. However if you are looking for new information on more obscure colonies and imperial figures this is your book. One Fine Day is a snapshot in time of the interwar Empire. I think this book does a better job as a snapshot in time than Morrisons Pax Britannia because it is willing to show the history of the years proceeding and coming after the 1923 date. Pax Britannia was a snapshot of one day which I found made the book somewhat boring. This book is more flexible which makes it a compelling and complete history of the interwar British Empire. This book is highly recommended for those who wish to study the British Empire or interwar period more generally. I hope to see more books about the British Empire with this level of detail in the future.