Charles F Rey Books

Sir Charles Fernand Rey (1877 - 1968) was a British civil servant who became the Resident Commissioner of the Bechuanaland Protectorate from 1930 to 1937. In 1919 he went to Abyssinia as the general manager of the Abyssinian Corporation to promote British commercial interests there. He resigned from the Corporation in 1920 following it's bankruptcy but continued to visit Abyssinia on many occasions.

Unconquered Abyssinia As It Is Today by C F Rey (1923) is an account of Abyssinia, its peoples and their customs, its resources and possibilities and its extraordinary history as a hitherto unconquered nation.

The Real Abyssinia by C F Rey (1935) is a revision of his first book on Abyssinia. It is a study of the culture and history of Abyssinia with the author's personal observations of habits, customs, land features, religion, industrial development and more.

In The Country Of The Blue Nile by C F Rey (1927) is an in-depth study of the culture, landscapes, present, future and history of Abyssinia.

The Romance Of The Portuguese In Abyssinia: An Account Of The Adventurous Journeys Of The Portuguese To The Empire Of Prester John; Their Assistance To Ethiopia In Its Struggle Against Islam And Their Subsequent Efforts To Impose Their Own Influence And Religion, 1490-1633 by C F Rey (1929)

Monarch Of All I Survey - Bechuanaland Diaries 1929-37 by C F Rey (1988). Edited by Neil Parsons and Michael Crowder. Rey's diaries are a great record of the actions and thoughts of a colonial administrator in this period. He was a great natural raconteur but his recorded thoughts, life and career should be seen in the colonial, imperial context, for he shows many of the prejudices and the arrogance of an Englishman abroad. Neil Parsons is specialist in Botswana history. Michael Crowder is a historian of Nigeria and colonial west Africa.

Page Updated: Aug 2020