Ivan Sharrock

As the only relative in line to ascend the Royal throne, a down-on-his-luck American slob must learn the ways of the English.

A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

When Obi Okonkwo completes his studies in England and returns to Nigeria, he finds himself in a country marked by rapid industrialisation and deep political change. In a time of social upheaval, Obi represents modern Nigeria. Through his gaze, his own expectations, those of his environment and the woman he loves become visible. And the disappointment of these expectations. Obi experiences the spreading corruption, the dominance of the Europeans and the conflicts with the values of traditional societies. In flashbacks, his struggle is interwoven with that of his grandfather Okonkwo. The latter experiences the first foreign influences in his village of Umuofia, from the arrival of the Christian missionaries to British colonialism.