Arnold Curtis

A miscellany or anthology of reminiscences of early European pioneer days in Kenya between 1890 and 1968 . it's a book much sought after today though published in 1980 It was compiled under the auspices of The East Africa Women's League . The book is edited by Elspeth Huxley and Arnold Curtis and Elspeth's was a name to sell the title as she was a well eatsblished author . it does have a charming scrapbook feel of another era and is replete with lots of early black and white photos and drawings by early settlers illustrating their rugged feats in taming Africa .... Starting farms and coffee estates, building railways, shooting big game , clearing the bush , organizing their labour , lording it over the indigenous tribes and establishing a distinctive louche and loose Kenya colonial European lifestyle . It was a tough life and pioneers needed to be fearless , imaginative and resourceful . The British empire in Kenya lasted less than 70 years but it was fun while it lasted and within 20 years of independence there's a nostalgic call to bring it all back again in these reminiscences of the early settlers. The book has some lovely coloured illustrations of watercolours of places , plants, and birds and small maps show the location of different towns and regions .… (mehr)