The British Empire Library


The Happy Isles: A Diary Of The Solomons

by D.C. Horton


Courtesy of OSPA


Review by A.H. Stafford
In the days before "Colony" became a dirty word, pronounced with embarrassment, young Dick Horton went to the Solomon Islands as a District Officer and served there until after the second world war.

In this book "The Happy Isles" published by Heinemann he draws a vivid picture, not only of the islands and their native inhabitants, but more importantly, of the men of the Colonial Service who administered these wild, widely scattered and often dangerous islands. Of civilisation as we in England know it, the comfortable world of electricity, roads, railways, shops, telephones and of course the 'telly', they had none, but instead they had to face earthquakes and hurricanes, malaria, poor food, and back breaking work in an enervating and very hot climate together with frequent moments of real danger from the tribesmen whose lot they were trying to improve.

Mr. Horton describes his life as a D.O. and the habits and queer customs of the people with an observant and tolerant eye. In spite of all the discomforts and vexations he was quite obviously deeply interested in every aspect of the life around him; fascinating legends and accounts of the extraordinary shark calling, black magic and gruesome murder are all part of his daily life, and be it remembered that in dealing with all the many emergencies and difficulties Mr. Horton was usually the only white man for miles around.

The quality of these men and the work they performed was clearly shown when the Japanese overran the Solomans in 1942, and the natives despite torture and persecution remained largely loyal to the British Administration, and especially to that gallant band of men (of whom Horton was one) who formed that highly dangerous and most valuable service, the Coast-watchers. It is perhaps a pity that the book does not cover these adventures of the war years, but that will be covered in his next book: Fire Over the Islands: Coast Watchers of the Solomons

This is an excellent book of its kind and well worth every penny.

British Empire Book
Author
D.C. Horton
Published
1965
Pages
198
Publisher
Heinemann
ISBN
Availability
Abebooks
Amazon


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