THE AFRICAN DREAM BY BRIAN GARDNER

THE AFRICAN DREAM BY BRIAN GARDNER. FIRST EDITION 1970, HARDCOVER, FULLY INTACT DUST JACKET, NO INSCRIPTIONS OR NAMES, 331 PAGES, IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.

"The African Dream was the vision of that vast, still largely unknown continent as a Jewel in the Crown of Britain's Empire, bright enough to rival the splendour of India herself; a dream of the peoples of Africa, of many races and shades of colour, living at peace under the paternal influence of a British administration and the protection of British arms. The exploration of Africa by the British started with the merchant pressure groups in London's coffee shops urging a reluctant Government to go into Africa to compensate for the loss of the American colonies. The early dare-devil explorers, such as Mungo Park, were ambitious and often tragically ill-prepared adventurers; later came a more scientific though equally dedicated breed: men like Burton, Speke, and Baker, whose fortitude, backed by the energetic efforts of British merchants and politicians, led to the annexation of large tracts of territory. Still more was won by military conquest, by treaty, even by mistake....In the early days it seemed that the Imperial dream would become a reality; District Commissioners held sway over lands larger than their homeland, with little more help than a table, a pipe, and their love for the country and people to whom they dedicated their lives; the reforming zeal of Victorian England swept slavery out of most of the Continent; men like Cecil Rhodes unlocked Africa's legendary wealth; great trading companies moved in, bringing local prosperity and developing markets for industrial Britain. Africa produced vegetable." - Dust jacket