Blackjacks and Luckybeans (UK version): An African Childhood

Born in London in 1950, in 1952 Iain Andrew Walker emigrated with his parents to what was then Southern Rhodesia - now Zimbabwe. Against the backdrop of rising African nationalism, he grew up during what might be termed the last heydays of colonialism in a wild and exotic environment that provided an exciting and wondrous playground for a young boy. As a result of his father’s passion for the outdoors, the Walker family traveled extensively throughout Southern Africa, visiting many out-of-the-way places and experiencing Africa in a way that very few of their contemporaries did. In 1959, the family moved from Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia to Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) where Iain's idyllic existence gradually morphed into a tense uncertainty as the racial antagonism of his surroundings impinged more and more forcefully on his developing view of the world. Blackjacks and Luckybeans is the story of the first ten years of a unique African childhood.