Denis Hills, The White Pumpkin (Uganda, Idi Amin)

Denis Hills, The White Pumpkin. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1975.

Hard cover, dustwrapper, 341 pages, plates, map of Uganda.

Very slight foxing on the endpapers and edges of the text-block. Pages very clean. Very good condition.

'Denis Hills has been a lecturer in English in Kampala since 1964. In this book he continues the account of his experiences in Uganda, the first part of which, up to 1969, he described in Man with a Lobelia Flute (praised by the Sunday Nation of Nairobi as 'the best book on Uganda in fifty years'). As one of the dwindling number of British residents in Uganda, Denis Hills has closely observed events there since General Amin seized power. He has well-informed chapters on Amin himself, on the spread of violence, the exodus of Asians, expatriates, education, as well as descriptions of journeys he made among remoter tribal people including the little known Teuso (Ik). The book also contains autobiographical material in which the author recalls the long journey which, as he puts it, has landed him under a mango tree in a Kampala garden. While Denis Hills is critical of Amin's conduct and policies, he is very much in sympathy with the Uganda people. Indeed he hopes that by recording something of their desperate problems, he may have done a small service for them. The book also contains a number of contributions by the author's Ugandan students on the traditional life, customs and beliefs of the people, which are particularly enlightening, and all the illustrations are from the author's own collection.' (blurb)

'Denis Cecil Hills (1913 to 2004) was a British author, teacher, traveller and adventurer. He came to international prominence in 1975 while he was living in Uganda and was sentenced to death for espionage and sedition following comments about President Idi Amin [in this book]. After Amin rebuffed appeals for clemency by Queen Elizabeth II, Hills was released and allowed to return to the UK following the intervention of the British government.' (Wikipedia)