The book begins in the 1930s when Roald Dahl, after finishing his schooling, took a job with the Shell Oil Company. He was posted to East Africa, which was then a British colony. This period was a time when European powers, particularly Britain and France, held significant colonial territories in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world. The British Empire was at its peak, and the daily life of expatriates like Dahl was characterized by a distinct separation between the British colonial officials and the indigenous populations. The social structures were heavily influenced by race and class, with British nationals often occupying positions of power and privilege. In Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania), as in other colonies, the economy was largely controlled by British interests, and the local population had limited political and economic rights.

The late 1930s were also a period of growing global tensions leading up to World War II. In Europe, the rise of fascism, particularly in Germany and Italy, and the aggression of Japan in Asia were creating an increasingly unstable international environment. These developments would soon disrupt the lives of many, including those living and working in distant colonies. The onset of World War II in 1939 marked the beginning of the end for many colonial empires, as the war’s demands and subsequent shifts in global power dynamics led to decolonization movements in the following decades.