Book description
Born in Ireland in 1864 Roger Casement acted as British Consul in
various parts of Africa (1895-1904) and Brazil (1906-11) where he
denounced atrocities among Congolese and Putumayo rubber workers.
knighted in 1911, He returned to Ireland, where as an ardent nationalist
he attempted to enlist German help for the cause. He was hanged for high
treason in London in 1916. A compulsive diary writer, his so-called
'Black' Diaries were finally released into the public domain in 1994. At
the time of his trial, these diaries-detailing his promiscuous
homosexual activities in Brazil-were used to condemn him and,
subsequently, to poison his reputation. Published here for the first
time-as are his more public 'White' Diaries of the same year-they not
only offer the reader the opportunity to judge their authenticity-still
a matter of heated debate-but they also take us deep into the mind of
the bravest, most selfless and practical humanitarian of the Edwardian
age.
Roger Sawyer was educated at Wycliffe College, the University of
Wales, and the University of Southampton. He was awarded the T. G
James Prize in Education and subsequently embarked on a
school-mastering career. After a housemastership at The Blue Coat
School, Edgbaston, he became Deputy Head, then Headmaster, of
Bembridge Preparatory School. He presented his doctoral thesis
entitled 'Origins and career of Roger Casement with particular
reference to the development of his interest in the rights of
dependent ethnic groups' in 1979. He took early retirement in 1983 and
has since concentrated on writing. His books include Casement: The
Flawed Hero (1984), Slavery in the Twentieth Century
(1986), Children Enslaved (1988) and We are but Women: Women
in Ireland's
History (1993).
In 1985 he received the Airey Neave Award for Research into Freedom
under National Laws. He is a member of the Council of Anti-Slavery International.
