David Livingston: His Life and Letters by David Livingston; George SeaverReview by: Arthur MooreAfrica Today, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 1958), pp. 19-20Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4183965 .

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companions with much deeper pas- sion than he hates his tormentors toward whom he maintains a con- sistent and magnificent objectivity, etching their portraits in single strokes so bold that it would seem as if their own vitriol had splattered their own faces. The simplicity of this harrowing log-book tempts one to make a parallel with Faulkner's "Man Will Endure."

Totally emptied of self-pity, mo- bilizing every nerve and cell to the end of not betraying his own, con- templating suicide only as a better means for silence, Alleg emerges from these pages as a modern Her- cules, dragged into the absurd world of destructive lies by the monstrous "Paras" and their officers. To their attempt to strip him of every de- cency, his answer is his indomitable courage that restores his humanity to the dimensions of truth. Man's dignity does not reside in what is done to him but in what he believes himself to be. This belief, even under the effect of the "truth-drug," pen- thotal, carries Alleg to his end-not to betray. Here we reach to the very extreme of Koestler's "Darkness at Noon;" we are given light instead of that black night of fear.

A first reading will shake one with horror; a second fill one with hope. After the third a timorous, but se- vere, self-examination will become imperative. For the scene may be in Algiers during war, but the stage is set in every man's mind at that time when he is called upon to make a fateful choice in a desperate situ- ation.

The "Paras," in a guerrilla war, are faced with the same dangers when captured. They are not all in- human; two are filled with feelings of despair, and one is kind. Among the torturers, one will, later on, ex- press respect for his victim's stam- ina. These are men, just men, mad- dened to bestiality by fear and by the hideous psychology of war and racism. Admiral Nimitz, in an affi- davit presented at the Nuremberg trials, denouncing British and Amer- ican naval atrocities, as well as Ger- man, asked that war, not men, be indicted!

Sartre has said it elsewhere: "The Nazi is in us." So is the Pharisee. Throughout the world these must be forced to their knees. A scandal is a healthy sign; it translates capacity for indignation. Wherever great in- tellectuals are ready to rise and cry "J'accuse" and the witness willing to paint the picture with his pain and blood, hope cannot die.

ANNE TAILLEFER-STOKES

DAVID LIVINGSTON: His Life and Let- ters. By George Seaver. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1957. 650 pp. $6.95.

It was exactly a century ago this year that David Livingstone returned to Africa after a triumphal first visit home at the height of his fame. The missionary endeavors per 86 were behind him as were his skir- mishes with the Boers and (had he but known it) most of the happier years of his life. His monumental trips across Africa to Angola and back via the Zambezi to Mozambique, including the discovery of Victoria Falls, had earned him a place in the public eye in Britain that was never quite to be duplicated again. To the Victorians, the missionary-doctor- explorer seemed to sum up the ad- mirable qualities of the age and of the not-yet-proclaimed empire.

So true was this that in the popu- lar mind we might almost date the modern European interest in Africa from Livingstone's time. To think of him is to summon up the Western myth of the "Dark Continent" with its white explorers and its cannibals and missionaries.

What is the present-day student of Africa to make of Livingstone? Does he offer instruction for the vast complexities of the present situation or is the good doctor hopelessly im- bedded in the Victorian era like a curio of a fly in amber? Or is such a question simply irrelevant?

To Dr. Seaver, the author of this monumental biography, the question is more or less irrelevant. In a way, such a question does not even occur to the author. For in tone, this is a Victorian biography. This is not to say that it is simply "edifying" and even less that it is dull. But the fla-

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vor of the book closely coincides with that of its subject. Livingstone writes in his Journal, commenting on Je- sus' statement "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world," that "It is the word of a gentleman of the most sacred and strictest honour, and there's an end on't." Now, whatever our reactions to this statement, its frame of mind and formulation will seem to most of us echoes of the past. But Dr. Seaver's style is frequently so close to this that it might not always be possible to tell them apart.

Seaver's point of view is to treat Livingstone as the subject of a trag- edy (in an earthly sense) and this is wise. Such an approach may lead to too strong an emphasis on the ex- plorer wandering in circles, suffer- ing from a variety of diseases. It is true, however, that the contempor- ary Westerner cannot fail but be astounded at the sheer physical sta- mina of a man who spent many years wandering through areas pla- gued with deadly diseases under primitive conditions and himself sick a great part of the time., Again, such an approach may fail to explain many of Livingstone's shocking per- sonality traits and actions. Even though Dr. Seaver does not hesitate to admit that Livingstone's treat- ment of his wife and children (for an example) was callous and much worse, he does not help us to under- stand why this is so.

Nevertheless, Dr. Seaver's ap- proach is ultimately sound because it focuses attention on David Living- stone as a religious man and, more specifically, as a Christian and this is the key that unlocks the meaning of what Livingstone thought he was doing. To point out that the good doctor made a much closer identifi- cation between the will of God and the British Empire than we now think likely may indicate a faulty reading of Divine intent on his part but does not interfere with his basic motivation. One need only read those trustful and anguished religious pas- sages in the Journal to sense the true drive of Livingstone's life. The relationship he sought was not with man but with God.

Even so, there is much here that reflects upon present social problems. Livingstone's relations with the Boers make one realize how little things have changed in South Afri- ca; description of the native slave trade make one realize how much things can change and the values that colonialism can bring; descrip- tions of tribal customs show what is being lost for good or ill today.

For all who are interested in Af- rica and its history, this book will be of interest. For those interested in an extraordinary man seeking to serve his God, it will be of more compelling interest.

ARTHUR MOORE

DECISION IN AFRICA. By W. A. Hun- ton. New York: International Pub- lishers. 1958. 225 pp. $4.00. AFRICAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. By W. A. Hance. New York: Harpers. 1958. 307 pp. $4.95.

These two books present an inter- esting contrast in economic inter- pretation of African problems. Both are the result of extensive and in- timate acquaintance with Africa by the authors. Each gives a partial view of the problem and when read together present a much more round- ed perspective on the economics of Africa than read separately.

Mr. Hunton is, of course, a Marx- ist, as his interpretation of the Afri- can scene fully demonstrates but this should not cause the reader to dis- count everything he says. There is some truth in the old saying that "only bankers and socialists really understand economics" because they are both dedicated to an intensive study of the subject. Those of us who have not dug up all the records of the extent of foreign capital in- vestment in various parts of Africa and the wage rates and working con- ditions of labor will be surprised by much that Dr. Hunton has to reveal. He goes to great pains to demon- strate the fantastic profit rates of such corporations as the De Beers syndicate, in which American stock- holders have a considerable interest. This group in 1955 enjoyed a profit of $58.8 million, after paying $23.2 million in taxes. The total wage bill

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