Capricorn : David Stirling's second African campaign
"In the decade before independence in east and central Africa there was a small band of people of all races who believed in a future free of racial discrimination - Capricorn is the story of their campaign. The Capricorn Africa Society was created by David Stirling with the same originality, drive and enthusiasm that he displayed during the war in the Western Desert when he formed the Special Air Service, and was known as Rommel's 'Phantom Major.' Stirling was convinced that the countries of east and central Africa, especially Kenya and Southern Rhodesia, with long-established settler communities, could prosper if all races - African, Asian and European - shared a common loyalty to their country, and loyalty based on their belief in the future." "The campaign culminated in the legendary Salima Conference in 1956 at which the Capricorn Contract was signed by representatives of three races. The contract outlawed racial discrimination and set out detailed proposals for land reform, education, immigration and labour laws, including the constitutional cornerstone - a common voters' roll with qualified multiple voting. Some of the issues addressed in the Capricorn Contract remain unresolved in contemporary Africa. Salima was the high point of the movement whose idealism was to be swept away by white settler opposition and the rising tide of African nationalism. After a decade of unremitting effort, David Stirling - 'a prophet rather than a politician' in Philip Mason's words - resigned as president of Capricorn and within a few years Capricorn closed down in Africa. The ideals of the Society are maintained by many of the survivors from the battle in Africa through the Zebra Trust and Zebra Housing Association providing sympathetic accommodation in London for overseas students, particularly those with families."--BOOK JACKET
Print Book, English, 2003
Radcliffe Press ; Distributed by Palgrave Macmillan, London, New York, 2003