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author
Gordon Dyus
TWILIGHT OF THE BWANAS
Many books have been written about East Africa but not specifically about the traditions, customs, hopes and fears of a vanished tribe who once dominated the region. This tr...view moreTWILIGHT OF THE BWANAS
Many books have been written about East Africa but not specifically about the traditions, customs, hopes and fears of a vanished tribe who once dominated the region. This tribe — hardy, reasonably educated, and generally well-meaning — were distinguished by their white skins and European origins. They ruled East Africa for approximately seventy years and were responsible for its transition from a savage wilderness to the modern group of states one sees today. Encouraged with gradually diminishing vigour by successive British Governments, a male member of the tribe was known to the rest of the populace as a bwana and his female counterpart was referred to as a memsahib.
The story is documented in countless memoirs and official documents but readers who simply want to know what it was like to have been in East Africa during the colonial era are faced with a confusing choice of source material. This book is designed to fill the gap and to present a light-hearted history which tells the reader how the bwanas came into being, how they lived, and why they left the scene so precipitately.
The author is well-qualified to have carried out this task. Not only was he a bwana himself by virtue of having been born and educated in Kenya but subsequently worked in Tanzania and South Africa, where he was closely involved in planning and development. This background, allied to a life-long interest in African history, has enabled him to take a wide view of events which have shaped the continent’s evolution and comment with sympathy on some of Africa’s current problems.view less