A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa

A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa is an 1892 historical non-fiction work by Robert Louis Stevenson describing the contemporary Samoan Civil War.[1]

A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa
AuthorRobert Louis Stevenson
LanguageEnglish
SubjectSamoan Civil War
PublisherCassell
Publication date
1892
Media typebook
Pages322
ISBN0-8248-1857-1
OCLC227258432

Robert Louis Stevenson arrived in Samoa in 1889 and built a house at Vailima. He quickly became passionately interested, and involved, in the attendant political machinations. These involved the three colonial powers battling for control of Samoa – America, Germany and Britain – and the indigenous factions struggling to preserve their ancient political system. The book covers the period from 1882 to 1892.[2]

The book served as such a stinging protest against existing conditions that it resulted in the recall of two officials, and Stevenson for a time feared that it would result in his own deportation. When things had finally blown over he wrote to Sidney Colvin, who came from a family of distinguished colonial administrators, "I used to think meanly of the plumber; but how he shines beside the politician!"[3]

References

  1. "R.L Stevenson on Samoa" (A contemporary book review.). The New York Times. August 14, 1892. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  2. "A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa, 1892". RLS website. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  3. Letter to Sidney Colvin, April 17, 1893, Vailima Letters, Chapter XXVIII.
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