ABRAHAM’S PEOPLE – A KENYAN DYNASTY
(Posted 05th February 2014)
Books covering Kenya’s pre- and post independence past have always managed to raise keen interest, both in Kenya itself as well as abroad and while many books were written about more flamboyant characters, often adding a fair amount of fiction to meet ‘expectations’ by readers, the book about how Abraham Block build his Kenyan business empire, which at the time included Kenya’s leading hotel group – and some say best training school an aspiring hotelier could wish for – Block Hotels, is by and large true to his life’s events, from the moment he set foot into Kenya to the day his passed and was buried in the red soil of his adopted country.
Yours truly has been asked to write the first formal review for this 400 page strong book and was captivated from the very first chapter – and reading and reviewing is still ongoing. Written by first time book author Jane Barsby, a Nairobi resident for nearly 25 years and a fellow writer, the book has until now been a pleasure to read, and with its help allowed going down memory lane back to my own early days in Kenya.
Like many books of the former variety mentioned above, this one too is a must read and must have to understand Kenya better, understand the complexities of the late pre-independence days and the struggle of Kenyans for independence and then, after the 12th of December 1963 as an emerging nation were. One comes to understand what the overt and covert undercurrents of those years demanded of a man like Abraham, to make his dreams become reality and build a business empire about which even today, long after Block Hotels were dismembered and destroyed by new owners, the industry still sits up and takes notice the moment the name is mentioned.
I was privileged to have come to Kenya in days when Nairobi still was the ‘Green City in the Sun’ and when Block Hotels was synonymous with the best in hospitality there was to find anywhere in Eastern Africa, from the Norfolk over their safari lodges, from the Nyali Beach Hotel to Nairobi’s most famous of members clubs, the Bacchus. My own path in life, professional and personal, regularly touched base with Block Hotels and the people behind it, and beyond meeting Tubby and Jack, and Jeremy and Nick, sons and grandsons of Abraham it was the likes of Jake Grieves Cook and David Stogdale I dealt with and all of whom implanted in me the knowledge that delivering top quality on a constant basis was both hard work and a result of a vision and a burning desire to be the best.
The book launch has been set for the 26th of February at the Norfolk Hotel’s Abraham Block Suite, a befitting venue considering that two of Kenya’s most illustrious adopted sons, Abraham Block and Lord Delamere, frequented the hotel, one as the owner and the other as a patron. Both are today remembered at that hotel, Lord Delamare through the Delamare Terrace which emerged from the Delamare Bar (where he reportedly put more than one bullet into the ceiling) and Abraham after whom this superior suite was named, keeping the names and traditions alive. Contact the author Jane Barsby via janebarsby (@) africaonline.co.ke for details of stockists where the book is currently available.
The book’s ISBN code, for those keen to purchase a first edition, is: 978 – 9966 – 065 – 29 – 2
