Back Then: My African Odyssey

by Crispin Rose-Innes

First a tragic suicide and then a birth. This is the story of a child growing up in Johannesburg during the height of Apartheid in South Africa. The first years were lived in the shadow of close family friends; the activist Bishop Trevor Huddleston, the journalists Anthony Sampson and James Cameron, and the author Nadine Gordimer. Huddleston defiantly christened the baby boy ’Crispin’ in the black township of Sophiatown, beyond the ‘white’ city of Johannesburg. It was an illegal act under repressive white law. Crispin’s mother Jasmine, an active member of the anti-Apartheid Black Sash movement, came perilously close to being sent to jail. In the mid-1950s the family emigrated to the Gold Coast in West Africa, which later became the first colony in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence. These were formative years not only in Crispin’s early childhood but they were also important years for the emergence of a dynamic new nation called Ghana which attracted world attention overnight. Amidst increasing tension between East and West, the Third World found itself at a political crossroad. The Cold War had begun and the Space Race was set. During this period of global mistrust and at the age of only 10, Crispin was sent thousands of miles away from the family’s African home to a Quaker boarding school in Somerset. Despair and extreme loneliness were only really encountered by the children of expatriates when they were sent home to Britain for secondary schooling. Unprepared for the sudden introduction to England, it would take Crispin several soul-searching years to adjust and recover. This account is of not so long ago and is seen through the eyes of a young child desperately trying to comprehend the disparities of the English way of life during the final years of Empire when developed nations warily took notice of the awakening African continent emerging from a world rather different to the one we live in today. Appraisals 'This exquisitely illustrated book captures that post-colonial period in our history, through childhood memories and personal stories. Crispin’s eye for detail is unparalleled, funny, touching, and poignant.' Nick Broomfield, documentary film director 'A very vivid account, alive with detail, of a world born in the eyes of a child and of an era and place that does not exist any more. It is a gem from the first page to the last.' Peter Owen-Jones, Author, television presenter and Vicar of Firle 'By far the most elegant childhood memoir I have ever handled ...' Barnaby Rogerson, Author and director of Eland Books

366 pages, Paperback

Published October 25, 2017

Reviews

[Mary B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back Then is an autobiography of Crispin's family and his life during the height of Apartheid in South Africa. It follows his childhood in South Africa and then his years in the UK at boarding school, showing a huge contrast between his two lives. A totally fascinating book and a must read. One of the most enjoyable autobiographies I've read in a long time.