Tales from the Dark Continent: Images of British Colonial Africa in the Twentieth Century

by Charles Allen

Based on recorded interviews with 50 British men and women covering three generations of colonial rule in Africa, the stories and recollections in this book evoke the world of traders, missionaries, soldiers, policemen and district officers.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Africa, Biography, Short Stories, Travel

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Charles Allen is a British writer and historian. He was born in India, where several generations of his family served under the British Raj. His work focuses on India and South Asia in general. Allen's most notable work is Kipling Sahib, a biography of Rudyard Kipling. His most recent work, Ashoka: the Search for India's Lost Emperor, was published in February 2012.

Selected works:

Plain Tales from the Raj: Images of British India in the Twentieth Century (1975)
Raj: A Scrapbook of British India 1877–1947 (1977)
Tales from the Dark Continent: Images of British Colonial Africa in the Twentieth Century (1979)
A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Sources of the Great Rivers of India (1982)
Tales from the South China Seas: Images of the British in South-East Asia in the Twentieth Century (1983)
Lives of the Indian Princes, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (1984)
Kipling's Kingdom: His Best Indian Stories (1987)
A Glimpse of the Burning Plain: Leaves from the Journals of Charlotte Canning (1986)
A Soldier of the Company: Life of an Indian Ensign 1833–43 (1988)
Architecture of the British Empire, Ed. R. Fermor-Hesketh (1989)
The Savage Wars of Peace: Soldiers' Voices 1945–1989 (1990)
Thunder and Lightning: The RAF in the Gulf War (1991)
The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History (1999)
India Through the Lens: Photography 1840–1911, Ed. Vidya Dehejia (2000)
Soldier Sahibs: The Men who Made the North-west Frontier (2000)
The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men who Discovered India's Lost Religion (2002)
Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa (2004)
Maharajas: Resonance from the Past (2005)
God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad (2006)
Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling (2007)
The Buddha and Dr Führer: An Archaeological Scandal (2008)
The Taj at Apollo Bunder: The History of the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (2011)
Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor (2012)

Reviews

[Prateek · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unparalleled yarn when it comes to prejudice and racial discrimination. The reminiscences of the English interviewees who worked in Africa during the colonial regime are utterly one-sided and thus biased (was the adjective "dark" in the title a racist slur?). The editor, Charles Allen, failed to offer a comprehensive account of the colonizers' stint (the colonial rule in Africa was considered short-lived by the interviewees. Alas!) in Africa as we never got to see the problems faced by the colonials. Time and again we found the British as embodiments of bravery and friendliness. For instance, going to safari is depicted both as a daunting adventure to remember for the British (turning Africa into a colossal land filled with white man's grave as many brave hearts lost their lives fighting leopards and tsetse flies), and a way to know their African subjects who trust only the people whom they know (sic). The editor deliberately didn't articulate that 'going to bush' (touring) was also the means to strip the agency of the natives to voice their agency and anguish. In other words, it was a way to instill the meaning of colonial gaze in the hearts of the natives. Moreover, various narrative accounts are also fraught with memories that present Africans as people who are infested with "the swirling tide of superstition." The interviewees recall incidents of rainmaker and affability potions to prove their point.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed these stories about British colonial Africa mostly because they brought back memories from our years in West Africa. One reviewer noted that the stories were uncomfortable to read in the current day, and that is true. But this book was written at a time when attitudes were quite different from today. You also have to consider that the stories are all very one sided as they are told from the viewpoint of the Brits who had served in the colonial administration for Africa. Overall a very entertaining read.

[Molshri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inside view of the colonial presence and administration in Africa. Again a compelling, interesting and amusing read. Learnt a lot about African tribes and customs. Short accounts from real British men and women make this all the more interesting and realistic.

[Tabitha · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is tripe. If you want real history, look for it somewhere else. While usually first hand accounts of history are irreplaceable, this collection of accounts of British colonial Africa are completely one sided and fantastic (as in fantasy). This book is a self-aggrandizing remembrance of white supremacy in "the dark continent" which completely disregards the reality of subjugated native populations. This book is literally the British colonials remembering their time in Africa in such rosey terms that the worst thing stated is them feeling so lonely and a few of them try to kill themselves. Utter trash.

[Neil Aplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Came to me highly recommended. I appreciate it may be somewhat one-sided, but we have to look at these issues from all sides to reach a fair conclusion.

[Dave Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following on from having just read his anthology of the Raj, and drawing on the same BBC interviews of former colonial staff and their families, this takes in stories from the twilight years of colonial rule in Africa, predominantly using sources from Nigeria and Kenya we get a fleeting glance at some of the people that chose to live that life.
Again, a personal connection to empire makes this all the more interesting a subject for me, my father having spent time in a research station in the 50’s, long before I was born, and like pictures of his parents in Southern India, the people staring out from the faded albums, along with their stories, are mostly an enigma.
I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the Nigerian witch doctors and why it was advantageous to have them on your side, as it reminded me of a story my father told me about having to gift a case of scotch to their local practitioner, so that he’d place a juju on the area my father was testing materials in the local estuaries (samples of treated wood, submerged from floating platforms, to check for efficacy against the local fauna, such as shipworms) the platforms were made from nearly new, empty oil drums, a valuable resource in the bush, used as floats from which the various treated beams were suspended, all tied up with rope, the local villagers supplied the labour to help build and set them, and then came along at night, and helped themselves to all the gear, my father said this happened twice, hence the crate of whisky, one juju on the site of the of the experiments later, and not even a twist of twine went missing again, of course my father also mentioned the witch doctor had a lovely oven made out of an oil drums, and a hut made out of treated wood beams, with an oil drum skinned roof too, but he always laughed when he got to that bit …

[Edgar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will appeal especially to those who have spent time, like myself, in the dark continent. What was it about that place which had such a pull on one, which had to be experienced to be believed? It was ‘the extreme vivacity of the African, which gave an atmosphere of great cheerfulness that sustained many Europeans…..through many years of service’. I would sometimes when in Heathrow airport go to the Nigerian Airways check-in area just to get a whiff of that atmosphere.
This book will be anathema to many modern minds. But to refer to the book’s title ‘dark continent’ as a racial slur is political correctness gone bonkers. In the brief sixty years or so of British colonial rule I believe that Africa on the whole benefitted, despite the raison d’etre for colonialism being economic gain. Each country being administered was supposed to be self sufficient. So officers in those African countries, i.e most of them, with few resources or exportable produce or the means to raise taxes endured a meager existence. It would be unjust, however, for officers to enjoy a high standard of living, at the expense of the generally poverty stricken populace of the colonized country. In contrast was the Indian Raj - the 'jewel in the crown' because of the revenue it raised - where the higher echelons of the administration lived in regal grandeur, which prompted George V to say that only when he went to India did he realize how royalty should live.
The record of British administrators in Africa is generally one of benevolence and incorruptibly which continued even after independence and which I witnessed myself in West Africa in 1970s. Even giving a ‘dash’-bribe- to public servants was frowned upon. In contrast, Filipinos that I knew, invariably slipped in a few naira with any official request. This certainly expedited matters – at first – until the locals realized they could demand money from them for every single transaction. It was also frowned upon to have a local girl, although for someone single in a remote station it was considered understandable. The French, I think, had a more sensible approach. They accepted that many of their officers would take a local mistress and actually provided assistance for women and families which retiring officers might leave behind.
To conclude, the officers, whose reminiscences feature in this book, were overall a benevolent influence on the continent, certainly when contrasted with the characters who were about during the preceding slave trade era.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great lost history anecdotes in here. The introduction kind of made me want to not even try it but once I got into the actual chapters I started to get into the flow of its style. From what is presented, we see people trying hard in a thankless task and trying to make something of it. I would have liked more from the other staff workers but the intro does say experiences are similar but I do wonder why it was even needed to discriminate who was telling a story, a interesting story is a interesting no matter who it is from.

[Liz Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only gave this book 3 stars because the copy I have is so old that it has seriously fallen apart and I can't finish it. Having lived in west Africa it made a very interesting read. It was a very different era and the attitudes and lives if the colonials were very different to those we have today. The book did give an insight into the lives of people in Africa in those times .

[Kim]

Thought I was going to get interesting personal anecdotes and instead I got very dry administrative lessons. Gave up.

[Mark Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative!

[Katrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any book that represents the experiences of those in the colonial service this is at times an uncomfortable read. These accounts are nevertheless interesting for anybody who is interested in an inside view of British colonial administrations in Africa.

[Carolyn]

Never got around to reading this