or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
109 used & new from £0.01

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream
 
 

The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream (Paperback)

by Christina Lamb (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £5.37 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £3.62 (40%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 10? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
17 new from £3.61 91 used from £0.01 1 collectible from £0.01

Frequently Bought Together

The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream + House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-torn Zimbabwe + When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
Price For All Three: £16.67

Show availability and shipping details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-torn Zimbabwe

House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-torn Zimbabwe

by Christina Lamb
4.7 out of 5 stars (10)  £5.93
The Sewing Circles of Herat: My Afghan Years

The Sewing Circles of Herat: My Afghan Years

by Christina Lamb
4.8 out of 5 stars (11)  £6.90
Small Wars Permitting: Dispatches from Foreign Lands

Small Wars Permitting: Dispatches from Foreign Lands

by Christina Lamb
4.3 out of 5 stars (3)  £6.28
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun

by Peter Godwin
4.8 out of 5 stars (34)  £5.37
Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa

Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa

by Peter Godwin
4.9 out of 5 stars (8)  £6.26
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (1 Jun 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140268340
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140268348
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 30,248 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > History > Countries & Regions > Africa > Southern > Zambia
    #9 in  Books > Biography > Political > Countries & Regions > Africa
    #11 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Africa

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   The Africa House opens new browser window
www.TheAfricaHouse.Com/AfricaHouse  -  African Fairtrade Products For The Home.Buy Online Or Tel: 08704296788 
  
 

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

On Good Friday in 1914, a young British Army officer named Stewart Gore-Browne first glimpsed a lake in what was then Northern Rhodesia that the local Bemba tribe called Shiwa Ngandu ("Lake of the Royal Crocodiles"). At that moment, a love affair began which would last his lifetime, as the enraptured Gore-Browne set about creating a very British idyll in the African bush, complete with redbrick house and a terrace on which uniformed staff would serve champagne and cocktails. This is the complicated story of a man, his colonial vision, and the burden it became, set against the country in which he battles to realise it.

Christina Lamb has assembled the story from the mass of diaries and correspondence that lay within the now crumbling and neglected house. It is an extraordinary tale that leaps off the page with the grace of a springbok. Gore-Browne initially appears an extinct species, all Harrovian vowels, and prone to pepper with lead shot anything that moves. He is, however, infused with a liberal, humane streak that leads him in later life to support Kenneth Kaunda and the UNIP in their fight for power. Indeed, Kaunda said of him, "... he [Gore-Browne] was born an English gentleman, and died a Zambian gentleman".

Gore-Browne's personal life progressed from an unrequited love to a dramatic marriage, while still indulging in a formidably passionate correspondence with a favourite aunt. There are times when you wish for a timely swipe of the novelist's pen, but it is the nature of this beast that questions remain unanswered; what holds this engrossing chronicle in place is the Africa House itself, and the lives that unfold in and around it, perched incongruously as it is in a country that has outgrown it. --David Vincent



Product Description

In the last decades of the British Empire, Stewart Gore-Brown build himself a feudal paradise in Northern Rhodesia; a sprawling country estate modelled on the finest homes of England, complete with uniformed servants, daily muster parades and rose gardens. He wanted to share it with the love of his life, the beautiful unconventional Ethel Locke King, one of the first women to drive and fly. She, however, was nearly twenty years his senior, married and his aunt. Lorna, the only other woman he had ever cared for, had married another many years earlier. Then he met Lorna's orphaned daughter, so like her mother that he thought he had seen a ghost. It seemed he had found companionship and maybe love - but the Africa house was his dream and it would be a hard one to share.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream
80% buy the item featured on this page:
The Africa House: The True Story of an English Gentleman and His African Dream 4.8 out of 5 stars (21)
£5.37
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
6% buy
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun 4.8 out of 5 stars (34)
£5.37
The Sewing Circles of Herat: My Afghan Years
5% buy
The Sewing Circles of Herat: My Afghan Years 4.8 out of 5 stars (11)
£6.90
House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-torn Zimbabwe
4% buy
House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-torn Zimbabwe 4.7 out of 5 stars (10)
£5.93

 

Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (16)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating the beauty and incongruity of Africa House, 23 Sep 2002
By A Customer
I read a copy of Africa House whilst on a week's visit to the super country of Zambia. I found the storyline both rivetting and mysterious, it was very well researched and the atmosphere of the place comes across very effectively to the reader. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when afterwards I saw the slightly tarnished ink-pot with which Gore-Browne wrote all the letters (on display at the National Museum in Lusaka), along with his walking stick and other items. Only wish I had more time to go and visit the house, I heard it was beginning to fall into ruin.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars There must be a film on the way!, 4 Aug 2001
By A Customer
I thought this might be a heavy-going and 'worthy' read, but far from it. I zipped through it in no time and couldn't stop turning the pages! What an amazing, complex man and an almost unbelievable life! It's interesting to note that Mark at the Africa House has now finished renovating it - it will definitely be on my list of 'must see' things before I pop my clogs. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in travel, or African history or indeed anyone who just wants to read a fantastic, inspiring tale about one of the lesser known, but hugely influential, characters of recent times.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written,compelling - an unusual story of an unusual man, 2 Feb 2002
By A Customer
I really enjoyed this book. I had not heard of Gore Brown, nor his dream mansion in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. A man of contradictions, who wanted Africa for the Africans and the white man to help them show the way, his eccentricities and determination is eloquently portrayed by Lamb. Losing his first love to another, he oddly marries her daughter, who bears him two girls.
A life of politics, farming, and entertaining foreign and domestic dignitaries, he made an impact on Copperbelt politics, and was disappointed he was too old to assist in Kenneth Kaunda's new goverment. He is the only white man to have received a full Bemba funeral, attended by Kenneth Kaunda, ex-president of Zambia. He was truly an unique and incredible man. Christina Lamb presents a believable portrayal of an English eccentric, who realised his dream,and built an English mansion in the African bush, for his favourite Aunt. A great read, and the political and cultural context is blended well with the life story of Gore-Brown.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my best reads
Christina Lamb has written a book that I have read several times.I have lent it to others & have received rave reviews from them. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Katie

5.0 out of 5 stars So inspiring I went to Africa...
...to see the house - which actually is a bit expensive to view. However Kapisha Hot Springs is fantastic and really top value!
Published 4 months ago by Enzo

5.0 out of 5 stars Words (nearly) always fail me!
Christina Lamb is the ONLY author whose books I will buy on the strength of her name alone without having also flicked through the back-cover precis and a few chapter lead-ins. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. D. Tremellen

5.0 out of 5 stars House of Africa by Christina Lamb
As usual Christina Lamb has written a fantastic book,( I had already read, 'The sewing circle of Harat' and ' House of Stone'. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Susan North R. Pinho

5.0 out of 5 stars In my all time top ten
I loved this book. If this story were written as a piece of fiction, you'd roll your eyes and wonder at the author's imagination. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2003 by daisyrock

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing historical story
I read this book while on holiday and had spotted it while searching through for books about Africa. Read more
Published on 30 Jul 2002 by Miss NRH Cross

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring man's strange, sad story.
A man from another age, and yet someone whose individual dream rings a bell with me. What a fascinating story. Unexpected, touching, magical.
Published on 25 Jun 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Hi there this Mark Harvey of the Africa House
Hopefully everybody enjoyed the book as much as I did. We have now renovated the house and will have it open for people to stay in from July of this year
Published on 26 April 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting !!
I enjoyed reading the Africa House because it describes the passion of a man, and it reminded me of my great-grandfather who had similar experiences in French colonies... Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars "A great book on a wonderful country"
The Africa house is a must for anyone who has ever lived and worked with the people of Zambia. There will never be another time for a "Africa House" like the one built by... Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2001 by chrisswaine@hotmail.com

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.