Lives In Colour – My African Antecedents and Me

Autobiography
ISBN 1-84683-079-6
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by George Major
A family saga tracing the author's forebears in British colonial Africa and his own colourful career as a housepainter with many interesting clients over the years.

  • a well written and entertaining family history
  • full of fascinating historical details of unusual and memorable people, places and events spanning three generations

In this eclectic three-part account, painter and decorator extraordinaire George Major reveals how his life has been touched in many ways by many extraordinary people...

It begins with George Major recounting his own life ~ from his birth in Zambia and childhood in Zimbabwe through his teenage years in England and his own family life before embarking on a career as a self-employed artisan. He makes moving discoveries about his parents’ pasts and there are remarkable revelations about his father’s involvement in journalism, politics and public relations in Central Africa.

The second part deals with the life and times of George’s late father-in-law Arthur William Channon Major and his experiences on the Western Front during World War I. There follows his time in North Russia and India during turbulent times. After leaving the Army he began a business career in West Africa, representing companies from all over the world. His business was interrupted by the Second World War, during which he served in West Africa, Sicily and Germany before again taking up the reins of his various companies. An account of his intriguing family and business life takes us to his untimely death in Ghana.

The third part concerns Major’s clients over twenty five years, spiced with vignettes from the lives of varied and fascinating people.

There is a quirky section of photographs, which reveal the breadth of the canvas he has painted.

It is a journey peppered with anecdotes and pieces of history; some ordinary, some astounding, some moving, some hilarious, but all undoubtedly interesting.

details softback | 156 x 234mm | 290 pages | monochrome and colour photographs