Coming of Age in Arabia
(Published By: Penumbra Press, 2005) ISBN: ISBN: 1894131649
It's been said many ways: the present is incomprehensible without an understanding of the past. The situation in French Algiers and the British colony of Aden in the late1950s prefigured what is happening today in Iraq. Although there are many differences of detail, the resemblances are startling, especially in the nature of the insurgency and in the ineffective responses of the western powers involved.
Coming of Age in Arabia: A Memoir of Aden before the Terror is available from Penumbra Press, Ottawa, Canada (and from other sources--see below). This is a hardcover edition with excellent and unique photographs. You can order it (for around $29.95 Canadian, plus tax, depending on where you live) from Penumbra Press at http://www.penumbrapress.com (there's a form on the website). Or call or fax Penumbra (phone 613-692-5590 and fax 613-692-5589). Despite their general indifference to local publications, some Ottawa bookstores may have the book (call first!); any bookstore can order it. Penumbra's mail address is P.O. Box 940, Manotick, Ontario, Canada K4M 1A8. The book is also available in the USA from Michigan State University Press, and of course through www.amazon.com.
Reviews
Dr. Wolfgang Mayer
A review published in Jemen-Report, the publication of the Deutsch-Jemenitischen Gesellschaft, volume 37, number 2, 2006 (translation by Tom Henighan).
Recollections of a Diplomat
In his book, Tom Henighan offers his readers a declaration of love of a special kind, one resembling the memory of an old passion. Henighan, now a professor in Canada, served as American vice consul in Aden between 1957 and 1959, and published his book in 2004. His time in Aden was a kind of apprenticeship for Henighan, who learned to understand the realities of British colonialism. Historical changes were taking place, as Henighan writes “right under my nose.”
Nearly a half-century has passed between then and now, a very eventful time for both Aden and Yemen. Yet the present is always rooted in past history. This book contains innumerable scholarly passages, which help us understand the land, the people, and the political relationships in the southern half of the Arabian Peninsula. For example: “British intervention disrupted the traditional society by introducing Western values of material gain, social mobility and democracy.”
Complicated power games, like chess moves, but often also involving brute force, were already happening in Henighan’s time, and are a part of his narrative. The Suez crisis caused the world to hold its breath, and also touched Aden. On the other hand, the reader is invited to share the author’s delight in the beauty of the landscape, as discovered, for example, on his trip from Aden to Ta’iz. Journeys to Mukalla, in the Hadhramaut, and Socotra, with its then population of 5000 people, are recounted in detail, even when only of a few hours duration, as in the case of Socotra.
Henighan in his Volkswagen drove around the shores of the Indian Ocean, dived into the social life of the consular world, and shared Passover with the Yemen Jews. Arabs of various origins, adventurers and diplomats, military people and merchants of almost every nationality, not to mention spies—in that former outpost on the edge of a Biblical wilderness they all made for a mixture that by today’s standards would seem unreal. The liveliness of the narrative rivets the reader and makes him feel as if he were there. The old photos scattered through the text are lovely.
The book admittedly also has a political message. The author concerns himself with the happenings of the present, the tactics of terrorism, and he doesn’t condone them. Just because of that his critical retrospective on American policy in Arabia is more credible. The result is plain to see: the U.S.A. today, in view of its arrogance, is, with good reason, Henighan suggests, as unpopular as Britain once was in the era of its colonial power. What in the end one might wish for in this book is a trace more of the hope, gleaned from the perceptions of many visitors of today, that Yemen will find its own path into the future.
Here are some comments from readers of my Aden book, including writers, ex-diplomats, media people and others to whom the book has been sent.
"One of the best books I've ever read on a British colony. You've caught perfectly the unique combination of comedy, or absurdity, and tragedy that marks the British experience as colonial masters."
"I had a hard time restraining myself from hoisting the phone and calling you up--mostly just to express my enthusiasm, to talk about it, to say how really good it is & how wonderfully you have captured that time and place!"
"I'm enjoying your book hugely. It's a terrific read - lively, vivid, engaging, funny - and surprisingly relevant to today. You must have kept great journals to have all those wonderful details at hand. I love the pictures . . ."
"I love it! It's got everything - great characters, humour, literary touches, a strong sense of place. "
"I'm loving the way you've turned your memoir into a kind of film noir, murder mystery, love story, travelogue and much much more... I'm totally enthralled."
"I couldn't put it down. It is entertaining, vivid, authentic in atmosphere, and has good balance between the personal and the observed. The historical and political material is deftly woven into the first-hand account so that it never becomes boring. And you develop a little suspense: what is that dastardly man Crawford going to do to the likable protagonist, for whom the reader develops increasing sympathy because of his bumbling attempts to conquer the opposite sex? Moreover, it is very funny in places, particularly that marvelous dinner at the Resident's in Mukalla."
To read the Globe and Mail review, or my interview with the Hill whiz Peter Schneider, go to the Articles section of this site. My response to the professionally reprehensible review published on the British-Yemeni Society is there as well.
