Red Strangers: The White Tribe of KenyaWith the stately lowering of the Union flag in December 1963, seventy years of British rule in Kenya came to an abrupt end. The effect of independence on white society was devastating. Thousands of second and third-generation settlers abandoned their homes and livelihoods, never to return. But what had attracted the European pioneers to settle in Kenya in the first place? And how, within little more than half a century, did white society develop from its early days of mud-floored shacks of corrugated iron to the sophisticated cities of Nairobi and Mombasa? For decades attention has focussed on the shenanigans of the louche denizens of Happy Valley, while the creators of one of Britain's most flourishing colonies have languished in obscurity. |
Contents
High Hopes and Valiant Hearts I | 1 |
A New British Protectorate | 29 |
The Early Settlers | 48 |
European Settlements before the First World War | 86 |
The First World War | 119 |
Post war Adjustment | 129 |
White Society in the 1920s | 156 |
The Difficult Years | 180 |
The Second World War | 212 |
The Final Years | 236 |
Common terms and phrases
administration Afrikaners Ainsworth arrived became began Boedeker Boers Britain British Government building built camp caravan cent church coast coffee Colonial Company Coryndon death Delamere died district doctors East Africa East African Standard Eldoret Elspeth Elspeth Huxley European farm farmers father Fort Smith German Government House Governor Hall papers Hill hospital Hotel IBEAC Indian island Italian January John Kamba Kenya Kenya Regiment Kenya's whites Kibwezi Kikuyu killed Kisumu labour Lake Victoria land later Leakey lion lived London Lord Maasai Machakos March married Mau Mau McMillan miles mission missionaries Mombasa Mss Afr.s murdered Muthaiga Club Nairobi Club Naivasha Nakuru Nanyuki Nyeri officers opened police railway Rift Valley river road Rumuruti Russell's diary safari sent settlement settlers Smith society South Africa station Tanganyika took town troops Uasin Gishu Uganda Uganda Railway white population wife women World Zanzibar