Great African Reads discussion

http://allafrica.com/stories/20140919...

wow! well done Manu! is your work available online? again congrats. would love to read it if available online?

Thanks Laura. I need to work on that. But here, as a foretaste, are the back cover text and the blurb.

On 13 June, 1873 British forces bombarded Elmina Town and destroyed it. It was never rebuilt.

Later that same year, using seaborne artillery, the British flattened ten coastal towns and villages - including Axim, Takoradi and Sekondi.

On 6th February, 1874, after looting the Asantehene’s palace in Kumase, British troops blew up the stone building and set the city on fire, razing it to the ground.

15-year old Kofi Gyan witnesses these events and records them in his diary. This novel, first published soon after the 140th anniversary of the sack of Kumase, tells his story.

The front cover features an image of a solid gold mask looted from the palace of the Asantehene. The mask now resides in the Wallace Collection in London.


This book, for the present, is definitely one of a kind; the first I have seen in this genre on an African historical subject. It takes history out of the recesses of memory and obscurity, and expresses it in vivid and dazzling light, for all to see and understand; providing educational details which substantially augment our perceptions of the past. It is well-researched and written in lucid language for the younger audience, but should be enjoyed by adults who need introductions to this salacious slice of history. It will do very well in the Ghanaian educational system.
Prof. Kwesi Kwaa Prah, Centre for Advanced Studies of African Societies, Cape Town.

Readers of this historical novel will be witness to a dramatic episode in Ghanaian history: the advent of British colonialism, with all the ruthless, cruel and absurd features that accompanied European penetration of the African hinterland in the late 19th century. Vividly written, thoroughly researched and lavishly illustrated, the book gives a lively account of this African-European encounter, as seen through the eyes of an enterprising youth from Elmina/Cape Coast who accompanied the British campaign to Kumasi in 1874. Although a work of fiction aimed at a youthful readership, the book rests on firm historical foundations.
Dr. Ineke van Kessel African Studies Centre, Leiden, Netherlands. Editor of Merchants, Missionaries and Migrants: 300 years of Dutch-Ghanaian Relations.

Kofi Gyan’s story is overdue: as a counter-discourse to the young adult literature of Empire for which Henty was/is famous, Kofi's perspective is crucial to the process of decolonization and will definitely challenge our views and perceptions.
Dr. Mawuena Kossi Logan, University of the West Indies. Author of Narrating Africa: George Henty and The Fiction of Empire

The Boy Who Spat in Sargrenti’s Eye is a meticulously researched historical novel, beautifully situated in real events of late nineteenth-century Ghana. Manu Herbstein has done what the best cultural historians of Africa should do: that is, read between the lines of the colonial archives to imagine what it was like to be an African alive at that time, witnessing and interpreting events. He gives a voice to all the local actors, from small boys to big men, and he breathes life into Ghanaian history from the perspective of Ghanaian witnesses. This is at once a historical novel and a reflection on the future of Ghana as projected out of those significant conflicts of the 1870s.
Prof. Stephanie Newell, University of Sussex, England. Author of West African Literatures, Ghanaian Popular Fiction and Literary Culture in Colonial Ghana.

This book is a highly instructive window into a critical period of Ghanaian history. The nuances of racial attitudes of the colonialists and their reasons for being in the Gold Coast unfold in simple language and paint a picture that is very relevant to conditions in Ghana today. Young Kofi Gyan conveys the experience of his world changing irreversibly and the questions raised along with lessons learnt make this a critical addition to the history curriculum of Ghanaian schools.
Prof. Thaddeus P. Ulzen, Chair, Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, University of Alabama. Author of Java Hill: An African Journey.

Great reviews. I'd love to read it. Thanks for sharing. I don't know that part of history much, I am more conversant with life at Nkrumah's stage post independence.

Manu wrote: "http://allafrica.com/stories/20140919..."

Many congrats, Manu! Get that book up on Amazon and I'll post about it on my site.

Congratulations, Manu! This is terrific news. I'm looking forward to it being available here.

Congratulations Manu! Please make this story available online. :)