Happy Valley: The story of the English in Kenya

by Nicholas Best

Happy Valley is the definitive story of the English in Kenya, written by a respected writer who grew up there. Covering the history of the British in Kenya, from the arrival of explorer Joseph Thomson, whose exploits inspired King Solomon’s Mines, taking in the decadent Happy Valley set of the 1930s, the murder of Lord Erroll and the Mau Mau revolt of the 1950s, Happy Valley is a must-read for anyone interested in Kenyan or British colonial history. Praise for Happy ‘Nicholas Best tells an immensely entertaining tale’ - Max Hastings, Evening Standard ‘Anyone with experience of Kenya, past or present, resident or tourist, will enjoy reading Happy Valley’ - Country Life Nicholas Best was born in London in 1948. He was educated at Pembroke House, Kenya, the King’s School, Canterbury, and Trinity College, Dublin, where he was treasurer of the union and editor of the university magazine. He served on a short-service commission in the Grenadier Guards and worked as a journalist before becoming a full-time author. He has published a range of fiction and non-fiction works.

Genres: Africa, History, Nonfiction, Kenya, British Literature

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 18, 1979

About the author

Nicholas Best grew up in Kenya and was educated there, in England and at Trinity College, Dublin. He served in the Grenadier Guards and worked as a journalist in London before becoming a full time author.
His first novel ('As a satire on military bigotry and shambling officialdom, Where were you at Waterloo? is in places as sharp as Waugh and sometimes better' - Times Literary Supplement) was written at Harvard. His second, Tennis and the Masai ('The funniest book of the year - Daily Telegraph) was serialized on BBC Radio 4.
He has since written many other books, including Happy Valley: the Story of the English in Kenya, The Greatest Day in History, about the Armistice of 1918, and Five Days that shocked the World, about the end of the Second World War.
Best was the Financial Times's fiction critic for ten years. In 2010, he was long-listed for the Sunday Times-EFG Bank award of £30,000, the biggest short story prize in the world. He lives in Cambridge.
For more information, visit www.nicholasbest.co.uk

Reviews

[Jimmy Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was interested in this book because it was one of the options presented when I was looking for facts (after seeing a movie) on that "White Mischief" story of the affair of Lady Diana Caldwell Delves with frisky Lord Errol. Their affair resulted in the trial (and acquittal) of Lord Delves for the murder of that philanderer, in 1940's Kenya. I didn't get what I wanted, but I got much more than I expected.

Nicholas Best has put together an excellent overview of the history the English in Kenya. He includes the stories and chatty gossip that make a history book interesting, fun to read, and memorable - the kind of book that sends you back to the stacks for a book with more information about a particular topic, and happy about the level of information you got on another. He doesn't go too in-depth; this is a 220-page book. But it's entertaining and informative - I read the book in two nights.

I did not find the Best's book one-sided, however, as other reviewers stated. I found Best rather even handed, in contrast to some of the other materials I've read. As with every narrative of colonial transition, there were good and bad, stubborn and flexible, open- and close- minded views on all sides of the issue at the time, and Best highlighted the worst and the best on all sides.

In all fairness, though, I'm hardly an expert on Kenya, having read a few books and seen a few movies, and had a friend or two that lived there - but I feel like I've got a much more well-rounded view now thanks to this particular book, with its focused history. It was excellent in confining its views to the subject matter stated, highlighting the important points with interesting vignettes, and not getting us caught up in, say, the beginning of time. A good read, and one that reminds us of the darkness that can lurk behind every nostalgic curtain.

(I should note that I did find my enjoyment of this book enhanced because I have read several books that provided me with background. Isak Dineson's "Out of Africa," as well as Judith Thurman's "Isak Dineson, Life of a Storyteller," Robert Ruark's "Something of Value," and Hemingway's "Green Hills of Africa" have already traveled over my nightstand. "Let's not go to the Dogs Tonight" by Alexandra Fuller, and two books by Jean-Pierre Halle on managing wildlife in the Belgian Congo also gave me some exceptional insight into the contemporary attitudes and dangers of daily living in Africa; Elizabeth Huxley's "Flame Trees of Thika" was an affectionate look back. After those contemporary reads, I was happy to get chronological and factual details from Nicholas Best.)

[Benedict · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kenya has a place in my family; my father spent most of his childhood there, so stories of Kenya pepper my family lore. It wasn't til I got older that I appreciated the political situation regarding the British colonisation of Kenya, but have never gone into any depth. This seemed like a good way to get an idea of the history.

This goes through the history of British Colonial Kenya from initial contact, to the Scramble for Africa, world wars, Mau Mau Rebellion and eventual liberation of Kenya from the British.

This presents itself as being a balanced view; it discusses the good and bad of both the British settlers as well as the crimes of the rebels later on. But I can't help but feel an undercurrent of "the occupation was good, actually", and that doesn't sit very well with me. I'd be interested in the views of the Kenyans on these events because this doesn't seem very apologetic for occupying someone elses land.

[Rachel Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an entertaining and vivid history book that does exactly as it explains in the title: tells the tale of English people in Kenya. It is full of funny and horrifying anecdotes

However it is all too ready to promote the English settlers as heroes to thank for the Kenya that we know today. It is not critical enough of the white supremacy among the settlers, or how they treated the local tribes.

I particularly don’t like the ready description of women who had to sell themselves as “whores” with little voices given to these actual women who had no other way to survive and were probably very poorly treated.

Again, this is a fun book, but not critical enough the English settlers.

[Lori Watson koenig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this time frame in kenya. A completely unique era in one of the most amazing parts of the world and the odd bunch of free spirits who tried to tame kenya and free themselves from english stuffiness.

[April Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Valley: The Story of the English in Kenya

This reads like a fun history book, full of interesting facts about Kenya. It gave me a deeper understanding of the roll Kenya played during the World War I. You get a different perspective of the pioneers who loved and fought for what they believed Kenya would become. History tends to choose it's own path! I was eager to learn more about the Mau Mau and the native people. History is always told from the victors point of view, although in this case it seems Africa is the true conqueror! Africa has a way of seducing you even from the pages of a book, it's no wonder people are still drawn to explore and settle in this wonderful, dangerous place! I enjoyed this book and it was an easy read.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book - highly informative but interesting too. A very balanced account of the struggle between African and European, black and white, Mau Mau and the rest of the Kikuyu, and the simultaneously positive and negative influence of the British on Kenya. What I really hadn't realised was the effect of the first World War on the country's future and the change in attitudes it produced.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this along with West with the night in order. to get some history of time --1920-1940--and place--Kenya. It shed light and different perspective on Kenya. The English were naive, both government and settlers. It reminds me of Palestine and Jews. and British trying to jolly along making promises the government could not keep, but people relied upon.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this very good. The author has a great gift for telling stories, and his account seems not so much history as a jolly good romp through the British in Kenya. The writer clearly has pro-British sympathies, but then makes no claim to be unbiased, so I don't really mind.

[Mark Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read several book about Kenya (I hope to read many more) this would be a good one to start with.

[Susan Lorenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating nonfiction companion book to Paula McLain's "Circling the Sun".

[Joel Robb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the English in Kenya by Nicholas Best is a well written and extremely interesting book, following the explorer Joseph Thomson ("King Solomons Mines"), to railway builders (the "lunatic express", "Ghost and the Darkness"), settlers on the highlands, through the great wars, the Mau Mau revolution and Jomo Kenyatta, to Kenyan independence and British withdrawal. I would equate Kenya to the British as the "wild west" was to the American pioneers. They settled and farmed lands occupied by native peoples, facing a strange and sometimes harsh environment, with no roads or technology, little government or law, but with boundless opportunity. They learned that certain crops didn't grow well, the cattle suffered rinderpest, and coffee doesn't grow well at colder altitudes (see "Out of Africa.") There are wild and weird stories of monied settlers ("Happy Valley"), as well as stories of the hard working, hands-in-the-earth settlers, trying to eke out a living. The age old question of whether Empire is good or bad is put to the test again, with mixed results. Ultimately, Kenya gained its independence on 11 December 1963, gaining self rule, but facing a number of problems to come to include a massively increased populations, extreme poverty, a large economic gap between the 1% and the 99%, government corruption, incursions by Somalis (recently Al Shabaab), crime, a depressed economy, and ethnic violence. However, Kenya's economy also is striving as an exporter of coffee, tea, and cut flowers ($6B of exports), a $41B GDP, a strong tourism industry, improving education, and a growing manufacturing industry. In today's day and age, it is easy to vilify colonialism (the word itself is instantly racist), Best does make arguments that for the early half of the 20th century, Kenya was able to advance with economic growth, government systems, infrastructure development with the settlers influx of capital and development plus the colonial influence of Great Britain. He doesn't get into detail of the cost and subjugation of the native peoples--ultimately, the colonial system ended and independence was gained--now decades have past and Kenya has grown into its own. A term used at independence was "Harambee!"-- Swahili for "Let us all pull together"--wanting the peoples in Kenya (of all colors) to pull together for Kenya. I would recommend this book.

[HansBlog · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kurzer Auszug a.d. viel längeren Rezension m. Links u. Hintergründen i. m. Blog:

Der Haupttitel Happy Valley lässt vermuten, es gehe nur um die Ausschweifungen sinnenfroher Engländer im notorischen Happy Valley, Kenia, in den 1920er und 1930er Jahren; das Thema bekommt bei Best aber nur ein paar Seiten. Besser trifft's der Untertitel, denn tatsächlich schildert Best die kolonialen Jahre Kenias von Joseph Thomsons Expedition 1883 bis zur Unabhängigkeit 1963 (Best beginnt also nicht mit Ludwig Krapfs Landung in Mombasa 1844); dem folgt im Nachwort eine Bilanz der Unabhängigkeit bis 2013 ("many failings after fifty years of self-government", S. 217).
Best plante sein Erstlingsbuch Happy Valley bewusst als Spaßlektüre für Strand oder Safari-Lodge. Er schreibt flüssig, aber auch sehr anekdotisch, teils aufdringlich launig-schenkelklopfend – immer an persönlichen Schicksalen der Engländer entlang. Afrikaner und Inder bleiben bis zu den Mau-Mau-Aufständen in den 1950er Jahren Statisten. Besonders drollige und wagemutige Käuze wie den Schmuggler Walker schildert Best sogar seitenlang bei nichtafrikanischen Aventuren (S. 132).
Zwei- und vierbeinige Menschenfresser, Masai-Huren, Kriegsscharmützel und Greuelmorde interessieren Best mehr als Kolonialpolitik und Interkulturelles. Insgesamt ein Anekdotenreigen, bei dem der Engländer Best die Engländer im ersten Weltkrieg und auch später bei der Rebellenhatz als Volltrottel zeigt. Zum Ausgleich für die köstlichen Späßchen schildert Best die Massaker der Mau-Mau-Rebellen an weißen Siedlern unnötig genau – "bestial and repugnant beyond belief" agierten die Rebellen laut Best (S. 182), darum gönnt er uns die grausigen Details. Vergleiche mit Südafrika, Rhodesien, Nigeria oder Ghana gibt's nicht.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became interested in this topic after reading Out of Africa by Karen Blixen, pen name Isak Denison, visiting Kenya and watching the glorious movie with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. After my trip, I read all of a series of novels by Robert Ruark beginning with Uhuru focusing on the lives of British settlers in Kenya and their conflicts with Kenyan freedom fighters - especially the Mau Mau rebellion.

This title is a history of the British in Kenya, their eccentricities, social life (lots of drinking and philandering) , fighting in WWII and finally their loss of patrimony to the Kenyan people. The author gives us a very different Blixen- unattractive, an attention grabber, though charming and concerned for the Kikuyu people who worked for her as portrayed in Out of Africa. One of the themes of the book is a virulent and enduring racism practiced toward the tribal peoples by the British settlers. The violence of the Mau Mau rebellion is frightening to read though perhaps portrayed in more detail in the Ruark novels.

Anyone interested in this topic will thoroughly enjoy reading this well written history especially if you are planning a trip to Kenya.

[Daniela Sorgente · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found in this book, as I had hoped, Karen Blixen and Denys Finch Hutton although not the aviator Beryl Markham, who also lived in Kenya from 1906, when she was four years old, until her death in 1986. There is also the murder told in the book White Mischief, from which the film starring Greta Scacchi was based in 1987. There is the visit that Queen Elizabeth made with Prince Philip in 1952, precisely in the days in which her father died and she became queen; in those days she slept in a famous hotel that was built on the top of a tree, the Treetops Hotel, where they later put a plaque that said that a girl had climbed up that tree as a princess and she had come down as a queen. Then of course there is also all about the Mau Mau revolt of the 1950s.
I was expecting a more nostalgic and evocative book but in the end it is the story of a colonization, therefore with many shadows and few lights. Still, a very interesting read.

[Qenoah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came into this with near 0 knowledge of Kenya's history, thought this was a great introduction to the subject. Featured engaging stories of individual historical figures that brought the history alive and kept the book entertaining while still covering the broad strokes.

Overall it did come across as very pro-English. At one point Jomo Kenyatta was sort of loosely cast as the antagonist and I remember thinking well he can't have been that bad if the airport's still named after him. Despite that, I liked that it made me interested in learning more and I think it was a good jumping off point for further reading.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is a bit of a whirlwind over view of Kenya from its creation to the present day. It covers the arrival of the British settlers, two world wars, a murder mystery, the Mau Mau uprising and Kenyan Independence. Do expect lots of details but as an over view and an introduction it is excellent. If you like any of the topic and periods raised in the book there are plenty of books out there for the particular topic.
The writing style is easy and contains amusing asides and anecdotes, it is a book I may read again sometime, as much as it is informative it is enjoyable too.

[John D. Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining history of British colonialism in Kenya. Viewers of “The Crown” may remember that Elizabeth was visiting Kenya in the early 1950s when her father died and she became Queen. The basic story is what you might expect: the British brought infrastructure, a modern economy, hygiene, education, a judicial system, etc. — plus lots of quirky characters — but also treated the locals like children and eventually provoked an independence movement (including the notorious Mau Mau of the 1950s).

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting Read

This book had me gripped right from the beginning. The way it is written means you are transported to the Kenya described and I found it fascinating to learn about how the country came into being. I was sad to reach the end as I could have happily read more stories about those who helped shape its history. Very much puts a new perspective on things I thought I knew pretty well.

[Helen J Altshul · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was quite an entertaining and informative book, and initially I was planning to give it 4 stars. Unfortunately, the author falls into the racist (tribalist) trap of stating as fact that the Kikuyu are "more intelligent" than other Kenyans, and that only they, the Embu and the Meru fought against colonial rule, whereas in fact several tribes were involved including the Kamba and the Maasai. That falsehood then made me question some other claims and stories in the narrative.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I genuinely believe the author does not believe he is racist, sexist or colonialist but his implicit bias is so strong, sections of this book made me nauseous. He presented the issues as though he could see through the eyes of the Kenyans without actually hearing their arguments against the European occupation at all. He didn't even mention the downside of the political control, and exploitation, only seems to believe that the colonists helped Kenya.

[Eric Hilt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book for a recent trip to Nairobi and while the historic context is interesting, it is hard to get past the author’s clear and obvious bias in favor of the English colonizers. This could have been a much more informative and compelling book had the author put aside his own biases and taken a more critical eye to the English’s role in Kenya and the impacts of colonization on the native Kenyans. Frustratingly, that never happens.

[Sue Hedges · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very interesting book

I really enjoyed this book. For me this was such an interesting read because my husband’s family came from Kenya and were full of stories about the place. They lived there for 36 years, my husband and his brothers went to school there ( Pembroke House, Gilgil) and through their stories, I feel I know Kenya. I hope one day, to have the chance to see it myself.

[Tom Groenfeldt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good on the complexity of small farms provided out of large white owned holdings. Not good economics but politically necessary. On the author's cronyism of academics

Who are too critical of the English see the work of the Harvard historian who relied on recently found English archives for accounts of torture in the English concentration camps. Sorry don't have the title to hand

[joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure why I purchased this book - as I have little interest in Kenya nor in colonial history.

But I found it interesting, especially the various character of the early settlers.

Not sure that I will read something similar again.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book told me some new stories about the British settlers living in Kenya between the World Wars. I enjoyed some of the research that went beyond the British, such as the Italian man who escaped from a prison camp to climb Mt. Kenya and then returned to the prison.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read

A good and quick history of the role of British settlers in Kenya. A thoroughly enjoyable book, and one I will keep on the shelf.

[kayti elysee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just got bored

[Tom Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a couple of years ago. I remember it being an interesting read on the life and times of the British in Kenya in the early 1900's.

[Susan Crocker]

A brilliant history of Kenya especially while travelling there

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. I read this while living in Kenya.