Zambezia (1983), XI (il)ESSAY REVIEWPATRIOTISM OR-PROFIT:NOSTALGIC MEMENTO OR NEGOTIABLE ASSET?in the land that some will always call Rhodesia . . ,They fought a war that did not officially exist, in aland thai some said should mot be.lIn time to come, they may change the name Š butthe essence, never ,. , the essential Rhodesia, nomatter what changes befall her, will live on Š andespecially in the myriad hearts and minds of thosewho have loved her,2Emotional ceremony: A salute to the Pioneers. WhiteRhodesians yesterday remember the pioneers of theircountry, on a sunny morning in Salisbury under acanopy ofjacarandas .. .3A NOTABLE FEATURE of publishing during the war years In this country was theappearance of numerous, large. Illustrated 'coffee table* books and ofportfolios of prints, often in expensive de luxe editions, which all, whetherexplicitly or not, sought to capture the essence of the history and landscape ofRhodesia qua Rhodesia, often with the accompaniment of poems composedfor the occasion or taken from 'patriotic'journals like Two Tone. The forerunnerof this genre is probably to be found in the National Archives of Rhodesia'swell producedRhodesian Epic published in 1968; but this was a serious, albeitpopular and White-oriented, attempt to portray the development of thecountry Š and was relatively inexpensive.4 Similarly the reprinting of bookson Rhodesian history by Kingston's Pioneer Hea(| series and by Books ofRhodesia, both beginning in 1968, no doubt reflected and encouraged WhiteRhodesian patriotism. Here again the tone was fairly serious, within itslimitations, particularly in the case of Books of Rhodesia which oftenprovidedquite critical introductions to its reprints; however, there was soon a noticeabletendency to produce expensive collector's versions bound in.leather and oftenof little reading appeal, like the Chronicle of the ceremonies at Rhodes'sfuneral.5Those which have followed in the genre have been much more popular andopportunistic. The first of these 'popular' illustrated books was All OurYesterdays, a collection of fifty features originally appearing in IllustratedLife Rhodesia in the period i 968-70.6 This success was soon followed by the'P. Badcock, Faces of War, Preface (see below, fn. 16 for details).2P. Hartdegen, Rhodesia, [1] (see below, fn, 11 for details).3From photograph of front page of The Herald, 13 Sept, 1978, used as dust cover for TheValiant Years (see below, fn. 13 for details)."T.W. Baxter and R.W.S. Turner, Rhodesian Epic (Cape Town, Howard Timmins [forNational Archives of Rhodesia], 1966; 2nd edn, 1968; 3rd edn, 1973). This finally went out ofprint in 1978 and its successor, Zimbabwe Epic has already been three years in the making andnot likely to appear until later this year.SF, Masey (comp.), Cecil John Rhodes: A Chronicle of the Funeral Ceremonies,,. 1902[1905] (Bulawayo, Books of .Rhodesia, 1972), 176 pp., ZS6G.O0."All Our Yesterdays 1890-1970 (Salisbury, Graham Publishing, 1970), 201 pp.,Rh$7,00(also de luxe edn of 200 copies).143same publisher with Beneath a Rhodesian Skyf a collection of twenty-eightcolour photographs accompanied by a heroic text by Beverley White andextracts by D.E. Finn from poems mainly by local European poets such asPhilippa Berlyn, Noel Brettell and Olive Robertson,7 The photographs, ofvarying quality, are almost entirely of scenery and without a single portrayal ofGreat Zimbabwe (although its African origin is referred to in the text (pp. 5-10) but still 'mysterious' and 'a riddle'). No doubt encouraged by the success ofthis book which had to be reprinted (and by 1980 was in the seventhimpression) the same publisher and author brought out the first popular surveyof the war, then reaching a crucial stage: A Pride of Men, originally issued as asupplement to Illustrated Life Rhodesia* A year later the same publisherbrought out an inexpensive collection of photographs called Rhodesia Is. . .9Two years later another publisher followed up this success with J. Lovett'sContact, a more lavish, largely pictorial survey of the war and Rhodesianarmed forces (with a detailed list of all honours and awards since U.D.I.),which quickly became a bestseller and went into a second edition.10 Thepopularity was due not only to the fact that the war now impinged on the life ofWhite Rhodesia as never before but also to the rapid political changes after theKissinger meeting and the Geneva Conference, which culminated in theInternal Settlement in March 1978. The war, of course, continued but, in asense, the point of it had gone as far as most Whites were concerned; eighty-seven years of White rule. Rhodesia as it had been, had passed. Thus theredeveloped a surge of nostalgia to which the continuance of the fighting gave apoignant edge. And this mood was caught exactly by the publishers of Contactwho quickly followed it up with a succession of books. The first was acompilation by Paddy Hartdegen, a Herald photographer, of some 150 colourphotographs of various aspects of Rhodesia (including one small one of GreatZimbabwe), again largely scenic but with the text reduced to a short floweryintroduction and captions.11 Very similar and published in the same year wasRhodesian Legacy of some 180 colour photographs by Ian Murphy and asomewhat fanciful text by Alf Wannenburgh which, however, does give duecoverage to Great Zimbabwe with some excellent photographs.12Of somewhat different nature but the same basic appeal was The ValiantYears, a compilation with brief historical surveys by Beryl Salt, ofphotographic reductions of pages of Rhodesian newspapers from 1891 to theday in August 1978 when 'Rhodesia' was dropped from the title of TheRhodesia Herald.13 An even more topical variant of this sort of nostalgicRhodesiana was Peter Badcock's Shadows of War, a collection of some 40 to7B. Whyte. Beneath a Rhodesian Sky (Salisbury, Graham Publishing, 1972), 64pp.,Rh$5.00; later impressions were priced at Z$l 3.35. For a discussion of the genre of poetry involved,see R. Graham, "Poetry in Rhodesia', ante (1978), VI, 187-215; however, as will be seen below(frt. 14), Graham himself was involved in one of these essays in commercial nostalgia and hischoice of poems there hardly squares with his earlier criticism,8B. Whyte, A Pride of Men (Salisbury, Graham Publishing, 1975). 144 pp., free supplementto Illustrated Life Rhodesia (4 Aug. 1975)."D. and S. Bartel. Rhodesia Is.. .{Salisbury, Graham Publishing, 1976). 1 12 pp., Z$5.00,I0J. Lovett, Contact (Salisbury, Galaxie. 1977; 2nd edn, 1978), 240pp., ZSI2.5O (also deluxe edn). The South African forerunner for this sort of pictorial treatment of the war was, ofcourse, A.J. Venter, The Terror Fighters (Cape Town, Purnell, 1969)."P. Hartdegen, Rhodesia (Salisbury, Galaxie Press, 1978), (1261pp.. Z$ 14.50.12I. Murphy and A. Wannenburgh, Rhodesian Legacy (Cape Town. C. Struik, 1978),[166]pp., R16.95: it appears that this book was originally planned to be published in Rhodesia,and was in fact printed here.I3B. Salt, The Valiant Years (Salisbury, Galaxie, 1978), 143pp., ZS9.95.14450 monochrome drawings of security-force personnel accompanied bypoems.14 The drawings were technically competent but the poems, somewritten for the occasion, and selected by Robin Graham, were jejeune, to saythe least, but obviously touched a nerve of war-weary Whites fighting a warthat would not end although their cause had now been lost. Althoughoverpriced, the work rapidly sold out Š as did portfolios of drawings from thebook Š and copies were soon to change hands for up to Z$300; and, in order toprotect the investment of the 'collectors' who had bought, no new impressionwas made. Similarly Laird and Darke's very expensive collectors' piece,Uniforms of the Security Forces of Rhodesia, sold out almost immediatelyand copies soon changed hands for more than Z$40O.15 Badcock thenattempted to repeat his success with a companion volume, Faces of War.16This followed the format of the first but included more detail both in thedrawings and in accompanying captions of the arms and uniforms of war; butby the time this book appeared in 1980, the war was over and the mood of1978-9 had passed Š and the market for nostalgia was moving south with theresult thatBadcock's third volume, Images of War, was about the South Africanwar in Namibia; similarly the publishers of'ContactII, a successor to Contact,on the Rhodesian war, decided to publish and market it in South Africa ratherthan Zimbabwe."Thus did the market for 'coffee table' Rhodesiana decline almost as quicklyas it had appeared Š and those that have come out since 1979 are moreserious, more factual, albeit still rather expensive works that have been long ingestation, such as The Regiment, a beautifully illustrated history of theuniforms of the British South Africa Police, a subject that the author has longworked on.18 Into this category also came various publications of Books ofZimbabwe, which publisher has been steadily turning away from reprints tothe production of new works such as Glen Byrom's Rhodesian Sports Profiles1907-1979, J.P. MacLaren's two books on Rhodesian schools, and theEllerton Fry photographs of the Pioneer Column and its route.1'' Two books ofarchitectural history of Bulawayo and Salisbur}' by the same publisher alsoHP, Badcock, Shadows of War (Salisbury, Galaxie, 1978). 47 drawings. ZS15.00 (also deluxe edn); and portfolio, 12 prints (1980). ZS20G.OG,15D.J. Laird and S.T, Darke. Uniforms of the Security Forces of Rhodesia (Salisbury.Musketeer Press, 1979), 31 sections, ZS25O.OO, This was a limited edition of 515 copies, boundin elephant skin and brass; sheets were sold separately,16P. Badcock, Faces of War (Salisbury, Galaxie. 1*980), 40 sections. ZS16.95 (alsode luxeedn),17P. Badcock, Images of War (Durban. Graham Publishing, 1980); P.L. Moorcraft, ContactII: Struggle for Peace (Johannesburg, Sygma Books, 1981), 228pp., ilius., R24.95; like itspredecessor this contains listings of all Rhodesian awards, from 1 April 1977 to 31 August 1979Š described on the dust cover as a poignant symbol of Rhodesia's 'brave and noble heritage... [a]book [that will] proudly recall Rhodesia's struggle for peace", It also appears that much of theremaining stock of such books was exported to South Africa for retailing there,I8R. Hamley, The Regiment: An Illustrated History of the Uniforms of the British SouthAfrica^Police (Salisbury, Quest Publishing, 1980), 33 sections, Z$165,OO; this collector's itembound in leather is essentially the same (except that uniforms are now in colour) as his earlier low-cost production in black and white, The Regiment (Cape Town, Bulpin, 1971),19G. Byrom, Rhodesia Sports Profiles, 1907-1979 (Bulawayo, Books of Zimbabwe, 1980),256pp., illus., Z$ 15,90 (de luxe ZS48.00) (reviewed ante (1981), IX, 77); IP. MacLaren (ed),Some Renowned Rhodesian Senior Schools and More Rhodesian Senior Schools (Bulawayo,Books of Zimbabwe, Down Memory Lane [3 J and [4j, 1981 and 1982), 345 pp., illus., ZS27.30,and xviii, 32'2"pp., illus., ZS51.3O, respectively. Views by W. Ellerton Fry: Occupation ofMashonaland (Bulawayo, Books of Zimbabwe, 1982), xvi, 175 pp., 159 photographs,ZS102.70; J. Winch Cricket's Rich Heritage (Bulawayo. Books of Zimbabwe, 1983), Ix], 232,illus., ZS24.75.145came into this category as they are essentially picture books (some 130 ofBulawayo and about 100 of Salisbury, 12 of each of which have beenrepublished in a portfolio), concentrating on old buildings (but with surprisingomissions, such as Jameson House which the Reserve Bank wants to pulldown) rather than what is architecturally or technically important (such assome of the houses in the Second Street Extension - East Road area).20This rise and fall of nostalgic 'coffee table' books has been paralleled inmany ways by the publication of prints Š a field, which, as has been seen, thebook publishers have expanded into. Here again the precursor in a way was theNational Archives with its prints of Thomas Baines in 1956.21 Then in 1969the recently established Books of Rhodesia published a reprint of his books ofpaintings of the Falls, originally published in 1865, and from this alsoproduced a portfolio of the most popular scenes.22 Meanwhile a portfolio ofJeff Huntiy3 s paintings of trek-wagons was published and two of CorawallisHarris's animal studies from Ms Portraits of the Game.., of Southern Africaof 1840.23 All of these prints were part of a general historically orientedpublishing programme (which also included a series of old maps of Africa andwhich, as has been seen, came to include work of old buildings in Salisbury andBulawayo24) as were the more recent prints of the National Archives in1980-1" and those of the Rhodesiana Society in 1978.26But again it was the escalation of the war, the inevitability of Black majorityrale Š and the emigration of Whites wishing to take mementoes (or somethingsaleable?) with them Š that led to a surge of publications of prints Š many ofthem published by their authors, often in limited editions at high prices. Mostsuccessful were the folios from Badcock5s Shadows of War and Faces of War,which have already been mentioned, but the military trend continued untilquite recently, with Andrew du T. Crous's poster of army badges, Colin Eyre'sseventeen drawings entitled Wheels, showing the various vehicles (includinghelicopters) used in the war, and Craig Bone's ten drawings entitled Weapons:0A.D. Jack and L.W. Bolze, Bulawayo's Changing Skyline 1893-1980 (Bulawayo, Booksof Zimbabwe Rhodesia, 1979), vi, 159pp., illus., Z$60.00 (de luxe Z$97.50); and portfolio, 12prints ([1981]), ZS27.OO. A.D. Jack, D.G. Cobban and S.H. Williams, Salisbury's ChangingSkyline 1890-1980 (Bulawayo Books of Zimbabwe, 1981), viii, 113pp., illus., ZS7O.50 (deluxe ZS163.5O); and portfolio, 12 prints ([1982]), Z$27.00."Central African Archives. Thomas Baines: His Art in Rhodesia (Salisbury, The Archives,1956), portfolio, 6 prints.22t. Baines, The Victoria Falls, Zambesi River,., [1865] (Bulawayo, Books of Rhodesia,1969), 11 prints, ZS40.5G; The Victoria Falls, Zambesi River . . . (Bulawayo, Books ofRhodesia, 1976), portfolio of 6 prints, ZS2G.Q0.23J. Huntiy, The World of the Wagon (Bulawayo, Books of Rhodesia, 1974), portfolio,of 6 prints, Rh$27.25; W. Comwallis Harris, Folios 1 and 2 (Bulawayo. Books of Rhodesia,1976), 6 prints each, Rh$12.0O. These and those of Baines and Huntiy were also produced as a* very successful series of Christmas cards.24Rhodesian Map Series, 9 maps (Bulawayo, Books of Rhodesia. 1970-3). various prices.For the prints of buildings, see fn. 20,"National Archives, The Southern African Watercolours-of Alice Balfour (Salisbury,National Archives Publication Trust, 1980), portfolio, 8ff., 10 prints, by subscription, Z$45.00;National Archives, [10 prints, sold separately], Baines, Victoria Falls from the West; VictoriaFalls from the East; Devil's Cataract; Victoria Falls; Zanjuela, Boatman of the Rapids;Henry Hartley Finds Gold; and Gold Fields Expedition 'Leaving Pietermaritzburg forMatabeleland; Edmund Caldwell, Visit of Lord Selbome, 1-3; Charles Croonenberghs, TheInxwala or First Fruits Ceremony (Salisbury, National Archives Publication Trust, 1981),ZS3.00 each.26T. Burmann and A. Roupell, Botanical Prints (Salisbury, The Rhodesiana Society, 1978),portfolio, 6 prints, Z$15.00.146detailing the arms used on both sides during the war.27 More strikinglynostalgic, however, were the numerous series of prints published from 1978 to1982 which depicted Rhodesiaii flowers or scenic views accompanied byrather sentimental poems28 and, more generally, Rfaodesian landscapes,Pioneer views, early farm scenes and old buildings Š all with certain charm,but of no great artistic originality (many being copied in fact from photographsin the National Archives collection) but evocative of'The Golden Days' thatfor those departing had suddenly come to an end.29R.S.R.27 A. duT, Crous, [Badges of the Ehodesian Army] ([Salisbury, privately, limited edn, 1979]),no price indicated; C. Eyre, Wheels ([Salisbury, privately, 1980]), 2 portfolios, 10 prints(randomly from 17 prints), Z$5G.00; C. Bone. Weapons([Salisbury. privately, 1981]),portfolio,10 prints, no price indicated.MJ, Sinclair and H. Finn, A Rhodesian Twelve Months of Flowers (Bulawayo, Books ofRhodesia, 1973), 12 paintings with verse. ZS1.40 each; [Illustrated Posms and Quotations](Bulawayo, Books of Rhodesia, 1978), 5 posters. Z$1.00 each.MSJ. Redman, Rhodesian Portfolio: 1 ([Salisbury. National Marketing and Publishing],1979), portfolio, 7 prints ZS9.95; J. Pinrteli, The Golden Days: Recollections of EarlyRhodesla[l] ([Salisbury, privately, 1980]), 4 prints. ZS27.OO; III: Pioneer Column ([Salisbury,privately, 1981]), 2 prints Z$15,00; IV: C.H. Zeederberg's ([Salisbury, privately, 1981]), 2prints, Z$ 15.00; J. Huntly, African Bush Scenes ([Salisbury, privately, 1981]), portfolio, 5prints, ZS24 00; Full Span Crossing a Drift ([Salisbury], Cape Galleries, [1981]). 1 printZS50.00; C. Wynn, Farming In Early Rhodesia ([Salisbury, privately, 1980]), portfolio, 6prints, Z$21.00". "K* Ł "' '"" ' " Š Ł--Harvest ([SalishtReflections of O'**C. Barlow, b . * Ł Ł JMemorable v.ast -x_ \\\Notindudtd in ihis iHFogarty and Lilian Cottnincluded, but deserving([Salisbury, privately, 1981]), 6 prints, ZS21.00; and- .[>. 1982]), portfolio. 4 prints, ZS15.00; L. Johnson, Architectural&i8 U Salisbury], Gallery Prints, [1981]), portfolio, 6 prints, Z$55.OO;''.««*!tree School ([Salisbury,- privately] 1981), ZS15.00; R. Muir,.^ne, privately, 1982]), portfolio, 4 prints, $30.00...ŁŁŁI he numerous recent prints of animals and birds by Bob Finch, PeterI 'A ~ cfa derive from a more longstanding and viable tradition. Also not.Jed review, for its technical merit rather than its socio-politicalcontext, is tht onnttiw of Or* >d Reid-Henry, which I hope to deal with later.147