Sir Charles Rey, Monarch of All I Survey, Bechuanaland Diaries, 1929-37

Rey, Sir Charles, Parsons, Neil and Crowder, Miachael, ed.,:

ISBN 10: 0852550162 / ISBN 13: 9780852550168

Published by London etc Botswana Society James Currey, 1988

About this Item

First Edition in near fine condition in near fine unclipped dustjacket, faded spine. (Book ref 2518).

Seller Inventory # 379

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Sir Charles Rey, Monarch of All I Survey, Bechuanaland Diaries, 1929-37
• Publisher: London etc Botswana Society James Currey
• Publication Date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0852550162
• ISBN 13: 9780852550168
• Binding: Hardcover
• Seller catalogs:
  • Africa

About this title

Synopsis

These diaries are a candid record of eight years of triumph and frustration in the reform and development of an African colony. They also reflect wider events: the struggle between British imperialism and Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa, the impact of the depression and the shadow of the coming war. North America: Lilian Barber Press; Botswana: Botswana Society

Review

The editors of this selected but unexpurgated presentation of Sir Charles Rey's diaries make the modest claim that they constitute an invaluable record of the actions and thoughts of a colonial administrator. So they do, but of a most extraordinary colonial administrator. On a first reading Rey's eccentricity and individuality bursts out in the exuberant excesses of his prose style. That body of pestilent dogs, the London Missionary Society, is a characteristic, and relatively restrained, example. The publisher's blurb makes a fully justified boast of Rey's dashing colloquial style, his engaging humour and frankness, his entertaining vividness. Rey was undoubtedly a character and his diaries make a jolly good read ... Yet as one looks through the book again it becomes clear that Rey's true peculiarity lay not in any quirks of humour but in his intense seriousness. - Terence Ranger in JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY