Shakespeare In Swahililand: Adventures with the Ever-Living Poet

Investigating the literary culture of the early interaction between European countries and East Africa, Edward Wilson-Lee uncovers an extraordinary sequence of stories in which explorers, railway labourers, decadent emigres, freedom fighters, and pioneering African leaders made Shakespeare their own in this alien land. Explorers staggering through Africa's interior; eccentrics living out their dreams on the African savannah, decadent émigrés, railway labourers, Indian settler communities, African intellectuals and rebels, the private lives of the first African leaders of independent nations, Cold War intrigues, even Che Guevara – you will find them all here, united by a deep love for Shakespeare. From Zanzibar, through Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan, Edward Wilson-Lee – a Cambridge lecturer brought up in Kenya – takes us on an unforgettable journey that reveals a hidden history and gives much greater focus to both Shakespeare and this region of Africa – a celebration of beauty out of place.