What is it like to live on the other side of history?
On Desert Island Discs the show for ordinary people living extraordinary lives join author and retiree, John Tilston, at his home near Brisbane, Australia as he recounts a life at the end of empire.
From post-war birth, in depressed 50s Manchester, at the start of Elizabeth II’s reign, to a sun-lit boyhood in “Anglo” Salisbury, Rhodesia to an elusive adult search for home across three continents in a world where the old monuments had lost their aura.
Picture: John at school in then Salisbury, Rhodesia
It is a tale of family life in the aftermath of Macmillan’s 1960 “The Wind of Change is Coming to Africa” speech heralding the end of white colonial rule across Africa to a polite but sceptical audience at the whites-only union parliament in Cape Town, South Africa to the soundtrack of vibrant vocal protest music, what-might-have-been inter-racial collaboration, the promise of a fresh start in Australia to sweet-spot retirement years.
Picture: John in London at a statue of one of his heroes, the Duke of Wellington
Audio and Facebook Links
You can hear John Tilston's interview with The Hub via the link below.
You can read the original Facebook post on the interview, plus the comments via this link: Facebook Post & Comments
Spotify Playlist
You can listen to John's Spotify playlist by clicking on the link below.