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Synopsis
Book is used and has been withdrawn from service from a Library. Book has a Library Binding and the usual Library Stamps, Stickers, Card Holder, Library Markings. May or May Not have a Dust Jacket.
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About the Author
Alan Paton (1903-1988), South African novelist and humanitarian worker, was born in 1903 in Pietermaritzburg in the province of Natal, South Africa. After attending Pietermaritzburg College and Natal University, he taught school for three years in the rural village of Ixopo, the setting for Cry, the Beloved Country.
Michael York is a successful screen and stage actor. Among his screen credits are Romeo and Juliet, Cabaret, The Three Musketeers, Logan's Run, and Austin Powers. Stage appearances include Britain's National Theatre and Broadway. His television work has garnered Emmy nominations and his audio recordings Grammy nominations. He has been awarded Britain's OBE, France's Arts et Lettres, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Chapter 1
There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and bracken and you may hear the forlorn crying of the titihoya, one of the birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand.
The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding the streams in every kloof. It is well-tended, and not too many cattle feed upon it; not too many fires burn it, laying bare the soil. Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed.
Where you stand the grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. But the rich green hills break down. They fall to the valley below, and falling, change their nature. For they grow red and bare; they cannot hold the rain and mist, and the streams are dry in the kloofs. Too many cattle feed upon the grass, and too many fires have burned it. Stand shod upon it, for it is coarse and sharp, and the stones cut under the feet. It is not kept, or guarded, or cared for, it no longer keeps men, guards men, cares for men. The titihoya does not cry here any more.
The great red hills stand desolate, and the earth has torn away like flesh. The lightning flashes over them, the clouds pour down upon them, the dead streams come to life, full of the red blood of the earth. Down in the valleys women scratch the soil that is left, and the maize hardly reaches the height of a man. They are valleys of old men and old women, of mothers and children. The men are away, the young men and the girls are away. The soil cannot keep them any more.
Copyright (c) 1948 by Alan Paton
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- PublisherRandom House UK
- Publication date1987
- ISBN 10 022460578X
- ISBN 13 9780224605786
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages278
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Cry, the Beloved Country: A Story of Comfort in Desolation
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Vintage Publishing, United Kingdom, London, 1948
ISBN 10: 022460578X
ISBN 13: 9780224605786
Used
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Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. In 1948 Alan Paton awoke the world to the conditions of life for non-whites In South Africa in a book which was to have the same monumental impact on the cause of liberalism in this century. The theme Alan Paton addressed in Cry, My Beloved Country, which was quickly to become an international bestseller and was later dramatised and filmed, was the plight of a tribal people caught up in the life of an industrial world. He told the story of a Zulu country parson who went to rescue his sister and son from the moral and spiritual dangers of Johannesburg's native locations in a manner so eloquent and affecting no humane or right-thinking person could ever regard the social and political conditions of Paton's homeland in the same way again. Born at Pietermaritzburg, Natal, in 1903, Paton attended Natal University College, and, after teaching for some years, was appointed Principal of Diepkloof Reformery in the Transvaal - work which was to provide a vital factor in this novel. All reformatories had recently been taken over by the Department of Education and, in his arrival at Diepkloof, Paton set out to transform a prison into a school and to substitute the education of citizens for the mere punishment of criminals. Into an institution of barbed wire, guards and sullen obedience to authority he introduced a system of graduated freedom - with dramatically successful results. In 1947 Paton went on a tour of prisons and reformatories in Britain, on the Continent and North America and it was while on his travels that he began writing Cry, The Beloved Country. Alan Paton had long been a working member of Toc H, and on the death of his great friend, Jan Hofmeyr, the champion in the South African government of the just treatment of non-whites, and Vice-President of Toc H, the mantle fell upon Paton who became its Hon. Commissioner. He inspired one of its greatest ventures, a tuberculosis settlement at Bothas Hill in Natal. In 1953, Paton's second novel, Too Late the Phalarope, was published. The same year he devoted himself to the newly-formed Liberal Party, of which he subsequently became president. The Party was finally outlawed by the South African government's Prohibition of Political Interference Bill and disbanded in May 1968. In 1960, Alan Paton's passport was confiscated on his return from New York where he had been presented with the annual Freedom Award and was not returned to him until ten years later. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine. Seller Inventory # GOR004819696
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Cry, The Beloved Country. A Story of Comfort in Desolation
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Hardback. Condition: Very good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very good. 256 pages. A wild irresponsible adventure or a landmark in modern history ? Dr Jameson's invasion of the Transvaal in 1895 shocked the whole world. It led directly to the Boer War and left a smear on Britain's name which many consider to be indelible. The full tragi-comic story of the conspiracy that went off at half-cock has been known only in the last few years when hitherto unpublished documents became available. Lady Pakenham has also had access to private papers. Never before has the mystery surrounding the Raid been so completely probed. Who knew about the plot beforehand ? Is it fair to accuse the British Government of complicity ? Did the 'revolutionaries' succeed in involving Joseph Chamberlain, Britain's Colonial Secretary, in their secret ? The suspicions of South Africa have not been allayed by Downing Street's protestations of innocence, and this astonishing episode remains one of the great detective stories of history. Characters as famous and colourful as Paul Kruger and Cecil Rhodes jostle with characters less known but equally vivid, like the magnetic Dr Jameson himself, tne strand of absorbing interest lies in the clash and co-operation of Rhodes and Chamberlain, and the story of this war of the Titans provides a fascinating study in political blackmail and counter blackmail. Lady Pakenham's account is written with all the skill of modern scholarship. In 1947 Paton went on a tour of prisons and reformatories in Britain, on the Continent and North America and it was while on his travels that he began writing Cry, The Beloved Country. Alan Paton had long been a working member of Toc H, and on the death of his great friend, Jan Hofmeyr, the champion in the South African government of the just treatment of non-whites, and Vice-President of Toc H, the mantle fell upon Paton who became its Hon. Commissioner. Seller Inventory # HSH03353
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Cry the Beloved Country
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Poor. 1st Edition. Scarce but this copy has flaws. The jacket is taped, torn and marked. The book is a little worn and cocked. One inscription. Our orders are shipped using tracked courier delivery services. Seller Inventory # 801u
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Cry, the Beloved Country
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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. The jacket (from a later edition) is a touch rubbed with one small closed tear. There is a little tape residue to the pastedowns; otherwise internally clean and tightly bound. Our orders are shipped using tracked courier delivery services. Seller Inventory # w892
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CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY
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Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 0.92. Seller Inventory # Q-022460578X
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