GORDON PARSONS is bowled over by a skilfully stripped down and powerfully relevant production of Hamlet
The opposite of forgetting is justice
BOB NEWLAND recommends a history of German colonialism whose history has been obscured by a selective focus on the Holocaust and a new wave of revisionism

The Long Shadow of German Colonialism - Amnesia, Denialism and Revisionism
Henning Melber, Hurst, £30
HENNING MELBER moved to Namibia (former South West Africa) with his family of German immigrants, in 1967. He joined the South West Africa Peoples’ Organisation in 1974 remaining an anti-colonialism activist ever since.
Germany’s colonial period was short compared to those of its European neighbours, lasting from 1884 until 1914. Following defeat in WWI, Germany’s African colonies, South West Africa (Namibia), Cameroon, Togoland (Togolese Republic and Ghana), German East Africa (Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi) and those in the Pacific, the Mariana, Marshall and Caroline Islands were distributed among the victor nations.
German companies continued to operate in these territories, often coming into conflict with those of the victors.
More from this author
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.

ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership

A landmark work of gay ethnography, an avant-garde fusion of folk and modernity, and a chance comment in a great interview

ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
Similar stories

NADJA LOVADINOV explains why the Peace Pledge Union is launching a new initiative to make sure that the West's colonialist past and present — and its victims — are at the heart of remembrance

FRANCOISE VERGES introduces a powerful new book that explores the damage done by colonial theft

BOB NEWLAND applauds a demonstration of the existence of a substantial African history that contributed much to world development long before European colonialism