"YOU HAVE BEEN ALLOCATED UGANDA"

by Alan Forward

"Alan Forward has put his story into a score of retrospective letters addressed to a friend, supplemented by frequent recall of Ugandan history and current situation. This makes for a lively read. The book ranks as one of the most elegantly produced memoirs, with fine colour photographs. And what complex colonial criteria can be unwrapped in that tribute to his post-Uganda spouse. "She would have been such a wonderful District Officer's wife."
The Times Literary Supplement

"I strongly recommend this book. Alan Forward has analysed colonial rule, and the cultural, economic, social, political and governance situation in Uganda."
Professor George B. Kirya, High Commissioner for The Republic of Uganda in London.

"Alan Forward's book is full of interest. It is a perfect example of someone setting out, in the fullness of his years, his recollections of what he did as a young man, and why he thinks now, as he thought then, that it was abundantly worth while."
The Rt Hon Lord Hurd of Westwell, CH, CBE

"Alan Forward gives an honest and clear insight into the life and outlook of a dedicated district officer, in an easy and often humorous style. The book is captivating and should be on every family bookshelf."
The Uganda Journal, Volume 46, Mr FDR Gureme

"Written with humour, affection and insight, Alan Forward's book reveals a deeply conscientious man, dedicated to Uganda, aware that colonial rule had its shortcomings but proud of the colonial officials' record of providing justice, maintaining law and order and encouraging progress. His enthusiasm and love for Uganda shine out of the pages of his book."
South African Historical Journal, Volume 45.

"As Private Secretary to the Governor (later Governor-General) of Uganda, Alan Forward was a close observer of the detailed negotiations which led to self-government and independence. These convoluted events are recorded with clarity and sympathy for both the African and British negotiators. Throughout the book quotations from earlier European travellers in Uganda, provide an invaluable historical setting for this account of the later developments, while the author's own superb illustrations encapsulate both the beauty and variety of the country and the accoutrements of colonial administration."
The Journal of Modern African Studies, Volume 38 Number 4

"The vast and enjoyable challenge of a colonial career leaps from each page as men like Alan Forward served the people of Africa. Doing himself out of a job by helping prepare Uganda for African majority rule was a prospect Forward readily embraced when he joined the Colonial Service; this was no episode in a jackboot imperialism that has firmer basis in Liberal Left fiction than in actual fact."
The International Journal of Management, Research and Practice, Volume 21 Number 4.

In Uganda, men like Coutts and his private secretary Alan Forward tried their best to rule some twenty different peoples, derived from three racial groupings speaking some twenty different languages, who lived in four kingdoms and ten districts That they managed to achieve this without more Britons than poor Harry Galt being killed is an astonishing tribute to their incorrupt, beneficial and just ideals.
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900, Andrew Roberts, 2006.

"As Private Secretary to Sir Walter Coutts, the last British Governor of Uganda, Alan Forward, now in his golden years, was privileged to be privy to the developments that led to Uganda's independence in 1962. His book is a rich addition to Uganda's body of historical knowledge. Importantly it is objective and the author admits that the colonial administration could have done more to prepare Uganda for the challenges of the independence years."
New Vision, (Kampala), Joe Nam, 1 November 2007.

"This book is compelling reading.... it shows a colonial officer who loved Uganda and was proud of the colonial government's role in keeping law and order."
The Monitor (Kampala), Patience Atuhaire, 11 November 2007.