Happy Valley: A Historical Account of the English in Kenya's Rift Valley

Burton Adrian: An excellent book to read concerning the colonial era through the years after independence. Thankfully it avoided trying to fill the anti colonial narrative just for the sake being politically correct and populous. Well done. Should be read by those who want a truthful account of this time period of east Africa

United States on Nov 24, 2023

David Knatcal: An interesting history of this not well known chapter of Kenya.

United States on Nov 05, 2023

Amazon Customer: This is an extremely well documented history of Kenya from roughly 1860 to 1960. It is very respectful of the British colonists as well as the native people. I wish I had read this BEFORE I went on safari

United States on May 16, 2023

Caro: As a long time visitor to Kenya, I am pleased to learn and understand more about the Mau Mau uprising.

United Kingdom on Apr 23, 2023

James Lowe: This is an enjoyable and well written book. I used to visit Kenya when I was sailing on Union Castle ships on their Round Africa Route. This book tells it the way life was in the days before independence.. A recent visit revealed that the population had exploded and the infrastructure was crumbling. A sad state of affairs - which was pointed out in the book.
I had to go on line to find out that Nicholas Best was born in Kenya and went to school there. I wondered why he had such an intimate knowledge of the people and the way of life. He tells his story well and with a sense of fun.
Altogether a great read

Canada on Mar 24, 2018

AM: Very interesting book. An excellent read if you want to know Kenyan history or even as just a story book. Enjoyed it and learnt a lot !

India on Apr 28, 2017

Lindsay Goodwin: A fascinating history of the English in Kenya. My only criticism being there was no mention of the famous Settlers protest rally on the lawn in front of Government House to demand Martial Law in 1952 during the Mau Mau uprising, when the Governor failed to address the crowd.

Australia on Jan 14, 2017

Ngirilover: I was actually quite pleased with this rendition of the lives of the folks that lived in the "White Highlands" . I thought it was quite well balanced and jibed fairly accurately with the other memoirs I have read. This one got a bit more at WWII than others and I appreciate that as well. As I know people who were very familiar with the "White Highlanders" and were part of the real "farmer" group, they did not participate in the antiques of the smaller number of rich and indolent, but they remember them quite well. Or they remember their parents' stories. All interesting.

United States on Jan 12, 2017

ALERGANT Bernard: I have known about this book for a long time. The fact that it was available at a reasonable price on Kindle encouraged me to buy it; and I'm very glad I did. It seems to me to be a comprehensive and objective account of Kenya as a British colonial possession. The narrative is rich but uncomplicated which makes for a good read.

France on Aug 18, 2014

M. Behrndt: As I have traveled to this part of Africa a number of years ago I found this book a treasure of information regarding the European settlement of the area. There is not much remaining in Kenya or Tansania that shows they were ever there although we did visit the Karin Blixen home which has been preserved. Our tour was mostly in the bush but included Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar and Nagoragora crater all mentioned in this book. Back in the early 60's I read a book by Robert Rourk "Something of Value" regarding the Mau Mau uprising which was very grafic but also an explanation of what happened to the European settlement in Kenya so I found this history a further addition to my knowledge of that desperate time. Although this book was a little hard to follow at times as it included such a variety of characters I thought it was quite well written and extremely fascinating. I do recommend it.

United States on Jun 20, 2014