Henry Grey, 3rd Earl Grey (1802–1894) served as Great Britain's Secretary of State for War and the Colonies during the 1846–1852 administration of Prime Minister Lord John Russell. Following his time in office, Grey composed the two-volume Colonial Policy (1853) as a means of illuminating the actions and policies of the government he helped to lead. Written in the form of letters addressed to Lord John himself, its goal was to give readers curious about colonial policy 'the means of knowing the real character and scope of those measures, and the grounds upon which they were adopted'. Volume 1 includes a series of letters written to Russell focusing upon the Caribbean, British North America, and Australia. Volume 2 includes a series of letters focusing upon Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Africa, and elsewhere.