Christine Nicholls, author and historian, has written several books on East African history including Red Strangers: The White Tribe of Kenya, a biography on missionary-explorer David...
I was in London last week, at the annual general meeting of the East Africa Women’s League (UK). There was a fascinating talk by David Arathoon, an English GP, about his recent return, with his brothers and sisters, to their old farm in Kenya, where they grew up. As I looked around the grey heads filling the room, I mused that these people were now part of history, and I hoped that their memories would not die with them. This magazine is doing its best to prevent that, and long may it continue. Of course we were all relics of colonialism and that has prevented many people from speaking about their experiences. But perhaps a more balanced view now prevails. Elspeth Huxley was wise on the subject. ‘Colonialism’, she said, ‘is now a dirty word to many, arousing feelings of indignation in black breasts and guilt in white ones – emotions equally disruptive, in my opinion, to a calm assessment of past history and the profitable conduct of present...
