A great book is one which refuses to leave you alone. Instead it urges you to explore further, pushing you onto other journeys, delving into wandering paths, down rivers, across continents and into other books, authors and articles . The Zanzibar Chest is a great book. Below are some of the books mentioned in TZB.
Kim by Kipling
The Story of the Gadsbys by Kipling
First Footsteps in East Africa by Sir Richard Burton
In Darkest Africa by Stanley
Through Masai Land by Joseph Thompson
A Hunter’s Wanderings in Africa by Frederick Courteney Selous
The Land of Zinj by Captain Stigand
In the Heart of Africa by Duke Adolphus Frederick of Mecklenburg
A Naturalist in Lake Victoria by G.D. Hale Carpenter
Man-Eaters of Tsavo by J.H. Patterson
The Uganda Protectorate by Sir Harry Johnston
JOURNALIST PLUS PLUS CHAPTER
This chapter covers Hartley’s time in Dar es Salaam or “haven of peace.”
Buchi is Buchizya Mseteka, a stringer for Reuters. Incidentally, in June 2002 Mseteka was suspended by Reuters following revelations that he had been receiving payments from Zambian intelligence services.
Buchi befriends Hartley and ensures his survival during his initial foray into journalism on Dar es Salaam when he invites Hartley to live with him. They loved to drink Tusker.
p. 85-6
-Tusker is the oldest beer brewed in East Africa. It’s named after the elephant that in 1912 killed one of the company’s founders.
-Buchi warbling in his melodic Bantu voice the tune that was on every pair of lips at the time in Africa about how “we will sing our own song.”
Hartley had the unique fortune to be living and reporting in Africa as the various countries gained their independence. Despite all of the nations gaining their independence from their colonial masters, the Cold War Era effectively muzzled the vast majorities of countries seeking to ‘sing their own song.’ The stifling after-effects linger on today as many African nations’ struggle to free themselves from aid-dependent economies, corrupt governments and mal-intentioned foreign intervention and ‘investment’.
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