Tales from the Dark Continent: Images of British Colonial Africa in the Twentieth Century (Paperback)

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Review
Recollections of desert calm and tsetse flies and the examiner who asked:"Do you think you could tell smoking-room stories to an African elder?" The witnesses are former District Officers, for the most part, the backbone of British rule in Africa, 1900-1960; and Allen, also responsible for Plain Tales from the Raj (1976), has arranged their oral testimony into a composite portrait of the colonial ruler's lot. The lure, for most, was "an intelligent man's outdoor life." But there were otherwise as many variables as constants - in space and time. The pioneer, pre-World War I generation, their juniors recall, included lots of eccentrics: "It was more important to be a character than to be conventional." Extremes of behavior were fostered, too, by extreme living and working conditions. During the inter-war years, the recruits were public school and Oxbridge grads, many with family traditions of colonial service; these were the years of protocol and status, of obligatory pith helmets and five-grams-of-quinine-per-day (served to visitors with the pink gin); of a constant press of decisions and the lift of touring the district - "stepping out before dawn at the head of my line, with one policeman in front of me and a government messenger behind me and the Emir's representatives behind him, all in single line with a string of carriers. . . . The carriers were piping and neither then nor now would I be ashamed of the real romance, the Sanders of the River touch." There's talk, as well, of the dual mandate, of governing with "the existing native structures"; and some reflect on the difficulty, even the cruelty, of applying British law. ("It's a terrible punishment," says one, to lock up people who've "never been in a building before.") After World War II, a new, egalitarian breed of DOs appears; planes ferry offspring from Britain on school holidays, the Land Rover opens up the bush; "development" makes the once-supreme DO the head of a District Team - but several decry the failure of colonial administrators to properly train their native successors. Overall, though, the focus is more social than political - a fascinating sojourn for adventurous souls who suspect they were born too late. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
Charles Allen captures the vanished world of British Colonial Africa in the recollections of the pioneering men and women who lived and worked there.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews   3 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A History to be Proud of, 19 Sep 2006 By  Book, Cigar and Brandy (England) - See all my reviews I was on my way to Africa when my wife bought this book for me from within the airport. I started reading it on the long flight. It was the most enthralling book I had read for many years. No ridiculous political correctness. No-one terrified of saying something that may offend others. This was how it was. Words actually spoken by those who had been there, done the job, suffered the hardships and gained the respect of a person, a family, a tribe or even a nation. The British didn't conquer, they served. They looked after nations until they could look after themselves. This book MUST be read with a mindset of that era NOT a modern one. It changed my whole outlook on the British Empire. An outlook that now firmly believes it was one of the most positive influences for good that the world has ever known and now, probably, will ever know. Read it and weep! Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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