A Road to Extinction
Can Palaeolithic Africans survive in the Andaman Islands?
Format:Paperback
Publisher:EnvelopeBooks
Published:10th Dec '20
Should be back in stock very soon
The Jarawa, one of the oldest tribes of human beings in the world, may go extinct because of a road that runs through pristine forests in the Indian-administered Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal, and no one seems to care. Tourists take the road each day to try and get selfies with the tribespeople, who came from what is now Botswana over 60,000 years ago. Proud of their independence, the Jarawa are nonetheless tempted with biscuits, as if they were exotic animals in a human safari park. In this astonishing book, Jonathan Lawley returns to what was once a penal colony built by the British to house Indian mutineers. He asks what responsibility colonial administrators like his grandfather may have had for the plight of these palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, and what the Indian government should now be doing to protect this last link with our most distant ancestors. Sumptuously illustrated with the author's never-before-seen archive photographs.
JOHN SIMPSON, World Affairs Editor, BBC News: "Five generations of Jonathan Lawley's family have known and served in the Andaman Islands. Now, the Indian authorities have built an illegal road for tourists to gawp at the Jarawa, who wear no clothes and use bows and arrows to hunt. Jonathan Lawley's account of what has happened is deeply moving and deserves our attention and our support." MATTHEW PARRIS, Writer and Broadcaster: "A fine balance of information and passion. A book of anthropological importance, with a message pivotal to the survival of an indigenous island society on the edge of extinction, written with invaluable insight from the author's own family history in connection with the islands." PETER HENNESSY, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History, Queen Mary University of London: "An absorbing and intriguing story, beautifully presented." Richard Luce, Former UK Government Minister: "For anyone interested in the remarkable diversity of our planet, reading A Road to Extinction is a must. It is a fascinating book and I strongly recommend it. Jonathan Lawley could not be better qualified to tell the story of the Jawara tribe. His long family history in India, including the Andamans, plus his own distinguished service as an Administrator in southern Africa, enables him to describe this story with realistic empathy for the tribe's wish to continue their own unique way of life without disturbance from the rest of us." CHRISTOPHER MATTHEW, Writer and Broadcaster: "By turns astonishing and deeply troubling. Dr Lawley's book is truly a revelation." HUGH TYNDALE-BISCOE, Former Chief Research Scientst, CSIRO: "In this new book Jonathan Lawley has turned his attention to the colonial service of his own family in India and the Andaman Islands, tracing the story of the islands and their aboriginal inhabitants through to the present day. It is a fascinating but sombre tale." JOHN SMITH, Colonial Historian: "A gripping mix of history, memoir and polemic about a people who have managed to avoid all that has happened to most of humanity over the last 60,000 years. Dr Lawley pleads powerfully that their wishes to remain apart be respected and makes it clear that if they are not, contact with our civilization will kill them." MICHAEL HOLMAN, Former Africa Editor, The Financial Times: "A compelling appeal for the world to wake up and save this last redoubt of a world that otherwise faces imminent extinction."
ISBN: 9781838172015
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
192 pages