Before, During and After the Falklands War: Part 2

by Richard Stevens

In 1976 an economic study of the Falklands recommended certain land reforms which encouraged the sale of large farms owned by absentee landlords. These farms would be subdivided into family-sized units, which people hoped would create strong local ownership and also help develop agriculture performance and diversification. The first farm to be subdivided was Green Patch with Roy Cove being in the process of sub-division when the war began. This government-led process carried on through the 1980s, splitting up many of the big farms. This is a frank and fascinating account of life in the Falkland Islands before and after the 1982 War. Islander Richard Stevens paints a memory-prompting picture of life in the yester-year when the country was engulfed in colonial bureaucracy and also recounts the war from the little-known angle of a small group of people who were in the frontline in the final days leading up to Liberation from invading Argentine forces . This is in itself a valuable record of a time when people pulled together to help each other and the British troops achieve what should have been an impossible feat. But it is also a story of what brings people to the Falklands in the first instance, and more importantly, what it is that captures their imagination and inspires them to stay. Richard as a travelling teacher visiting remote farms to teach just a few pupils at a time knew exactly what he was getting into when he settled, married, raised his children on a small, barely accessible farm and went on to take part in shaping of the Falkland’s future as an elected Member of the Legislative Assembly. He took it all on with characteristic good humour and thankfully, has taken the time to share his journey on varied forms of transport along the often soggy tracks and bumpy roads of the Falklands.

264 pages, Paperback

Published August 14, 2017