Maurice Stewart Collis was an administrator in Burma when it was part of the British Empire, and afterwards a writer on Southeast Asia, China and other historical subjects. He recounted his time in this office in his memior Trials in Burma. In it, he gives a particular focus to two trials that became politically charged because they brought to light underlying attitudes of British merchants and army officers to Burmese people. After giving judgment in the last of these trials Collis was hastily moved to the post of Excise Commissioner. After returning to England in 1934, he wrote many books, including Siamese White and Foreign Mud, as well as art and literary criticism. At the age of 65 he turned his hand to painting.