The Last Hurrah by Graham Viney
The Last Hurrah captures in vivid detail the 1947 royal tour of southern Africa, both the high-water mark of the British Empire and the very moment at which it began to unravel. It is also an intimate, revealing portrait of the royal family - King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret - at work.
A fascinating but too little noticed book which tells a great deal about [the Queen's] formationIt draws on a single royal trip [the 1947 royal tour of southern Africa] . . . The Last Hurrah, by Graham Viney, vividly tells the full tale. -- Charles Moore * Daily Telegraph *
Brilliantly conveys the glamour and gruelling nature of a tour that temporarily united a divided nation, but ultimately failed to embed South Africa within "a Commonwealth of free peoples and many races". Casting a discerning eye on his royal protagonists and the people they encountered, Viney penetrates beyond the frippery and froth to provide fascinating sidelights on the history of twentieth-century South Africa -- Lady Anne Somerset, author of Elizabeth I and Queen Anne
For me, this was the literary surprise of the decade, to be so moved and enlightened by a book about British royals and their 1947 tour of South Africa. In Viney's hands, this . . . turns into an unforgettable excursion into a world peopled by gracious blue bloods, lovely princesses, bowing colonials and great throngs of Boers and Africans, inexplicably cheering the rulers of a kingdom that had subjugated their ancestors. Bathed in the fading glow of empire and buffeted by the coming storm of political struggle, Viney's South Africa is a country most of us will barely recognise, teetering on the brink of tumultuous change and yet almost united, at least for a moment, by love for a king and queen who weren't really ours. This is a very fine book. It deserves readers. -- Rian Malan, author of My Traitor's Heart
Wonderfully written and researched insight into South African Englishness. -- Dominique Botha, author of False River
A colourful and entertaining socio-political account of the royalt tour that transfixed South Africa. -- Richard Steyn, author of Jan Smuts: Unafraid of Greatness and Louis Botha: A Man Apart
Meticulously researched, and inspiringly evoked, Graham Viney relates the story of the 1947 Royal Tour of South Africa, and in so doing captures a defining moment in the history of the South African nation. -- Hugo Vickers
Brilliantly conveys the glamour and gruelling nature of a tour that temporarily united a divided nation, but ultimately failed to embed South Africa within "a Commonwealth of free peoples and many races". Casting a discerning eye on his royal protagonists and the people they encountered, Viney penetrates beyond the frippery and froth to provide fascinating sidelights on the history of twentieth-century South Africa
Graham Viney offers a dual feat: opening out from the popular spectacle of the Royal tour to a critical moment in English history. This book brings to life both the bonds of empire and its end, and has the breath of the past in the detail: the way people dressed to depart on the white train; the Queen's disarming reply to an old fighter unwilling to forgive England for the Boer War; the family appeal overcoming Afrikaner suspicions of snootiness; and the smells of the time: acrid railway engine smoke, stoep polish and teatime silver in the sun. This is a layered book, written with insight into the disparate views of Blacks, Indians, Coloureds, the party led by Smuts and the proponents of apartheid lurking in the wings. This is an appealing story of a might-have-been, the apparent success of the Royals in bringing a divided country together but, in the end, a success that could not change votes, dominated by racial issues. The Last Hurrah is a superb achievement, graceful, readable, deeply researched and enhanced by rare photographs. -- Lyndall Gordon, author of The Imperfect Life of T. S. Eliot and Outsiders
A thoughtful, meticulously researched study. -- David Saks, Associate Director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and Editor of Jewish Affairs * Jewish Affairs *
This book has the depth and beauty of an elegy. -- John Martin Robinson * Country Life *
A thoughtful, meticulously researched study. -- David Saks, Associate Director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and Editor of Jewish Affairs * Jewish Affairs *
Painstakingly researched and enhanced by rare photographs, this fascinating anecdote-rich book tells the story of the 1947 Royal Tour of South Africa - an attempt to bring these territories closer to the British Empire . . . An atmospheric, unashamedly patriotic and stylishly written account, it should appeal to royal fans * The Lady *
Brilliantly conveys the glamour and gruelling nature of a tour that temporarily united a divided nation, but ultimately failed to embed South Africa within "a Commonwealth of free peoples and many races". Casting a discerning eye on his royal protagonists and the people they encountered, Viney penetrates beyond the frippery and froth to provide fascinating sidelights on the history of twentieth-century South Africa -- Lady Anne Somerset, author of Elizabeth I and Queen Anne
For me, this was the literary surprise of the decade, to be so moved and enlightened by a book about British royals and their 1947 tour of South Africa. In Viney's hands, this . . . turns into an unforgettable excursion into a world peopled by gracious blue bloods, lovely princesses, bowing colonials and great throngs of Boers and Africans, inexplicably cheering the rulers of a kingdom that had subjugated their ancestors. Bathed in the fading glow of empire and buffeted by the coming storm of political struggle, Viney's South Africa is a country most of us will barely recognise, teetering on the brink of tumultuous change and yet almost united, at least for a moment, by love for a king and queen who weren't really ours. This is a very fine book. It deserves readers. -- Rian Malan, author of My Traitor's Heart
Wonderfully written and researched insight into South African Englishness. -- Dominique Botha, author of False River
A colourful and entertaining socio-political account of the royalt tour that transfixed South Africa. -- Richard Steyn, author of Jan Smuts: Unafraid of Greatness and Louis Botha: A Man Apart
Meticulously researched, and inspiringly evoked, Graham Viney relates the story of the 1947 Royal Tour of South Africa, and in so doing captures a defining moment in the history of the South African nation. -- Hugo Vickers
Brilliantly conveys the glamour and gruelling nature of a tour that temporarily united a divided nation, but ultimately failed to embed South Africa within "a Commonwealth of free peoples and many races". Casting a discerning eye on his royal protagonists and the people they encountered, Viney penetrates beyond the frippery and froth to provide fascinating sidelights on the history of twentieth-century South Africa
Graham Viney offers a dual feat: opening out from the popular spectacle of the Royal tour to a critical moment in English history. This book brings to life both the bonds of empire and its end, and has the breath of the past in the detail: the way people dressed to depart on the white train; the Queen's disarming reply to an old fighter unwilling to forgive England for the Boer War; the family appeal overcoming Afrikaner suspicions of snootiness; and the smells of the time: acrid railway engine smoke, stoep polish and teatime silver in the sun. This is a layered book, written with insight into the disparate views of Blacks, Indians, Coloureds, the party led by Smuts and the proponents of apartheid lurking in the wings. This is an appealing story of a might-have-been, the apparent success of the Royals in bringing a divided country together but, in the end, a success that could not change votes, dominated by racial issues. The Last Hurrah is a superb achievement, graceful, readable, deeply researched and enhanced by rare photographs. -- Lyndall Gordon, author of The Imperfect Life of T. S. Eliot and Outsiders
A thoughtful, meticulously researched study. -- David Saks, Associate Director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and Editor of Jewish Affairs * Jewish Affairs *
This book has the depth and beauty of an elegy. -- John Martin Robinson * Country Life *
A thoughtful, meticulously researched study. -- David Saks, Associate Director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and Editor of Jewish Affairs * Jewish Affairs *
Painstakingly researched and enhanced by rare photographs, this fascinating anecdote-rich book tells the story of the 1947 Royal Tour of South Africa - an attempt to bring these territories closer to the British Empire . . . An atmospheric, unashamedly patriotic and stylishly written account, it should appeal to royal fans * The Lady *
GRAHAM VINEY was educated at the Diocesan College (Bishops), Cape Town, and Oxford University where he read International Relations. He runs an international design company, and, in addition to numerous papers and articles has written two books, Colonial Houses of South Africa and The Cape of Good Hope, 1806-1872.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781472143181 |
| ISBN 10 | 1472143183 |
| Title | The Last Hurrah |
| Author | Graham Viney |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Little, Brown Book Group |
| Year published | 2019-04-18 |
| Number of pages | 400 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |