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Lords and Lemurs: Mad Scientists, Kings With Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar
 
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Lords and Lemurs: Mad Scientists, Kings With Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar [Hardcover]

Alison Jolly (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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From Publishers Weekly

This quirky and engaging history cum memoir explores the issue of sustainable development in a microcosm called Berenty, a private nature preserve in southern Madagascar surrounded by plantations and many desperately poor people. Primatologist Jolly (Lucy’s Legacy) has spent much of her life studying the lemur population of Berenty, but she is also a keen observer of the life and culture of the Tandroy people who live nearby. The respectful coexistence of monkeys and men is due, she feels, to the leadership of the de Heaulme family, a French colonial dynasty who preserved a patch of pristine forest when they carved out their plantations. Through their story, Jolly surveys the history of Madagascar from the 17th-century arrival of the French through the harsh colonial regime, the 1947 War of Independence and the famines and political upheavals of recent decades. The de Heaulmes emerge as exemplary seigneurs, exercising a protective stewardship over land and people while fostering long-term economic development that doesn’t obliterate the region’s cultural or ecological legacy. Indeed, as they reorient the family business from commercial agriculture to 21st-century ecotourism, they represent to Jolly a kind of feudal third way between what she sees as the stagnation and corruption of socialism and the rapaciousness of global capitalism. Jolly can seem a tad starry-eyed about the de Heaulmes, who are personal friends, and doesn’t explain how their brand of benevolent paternalism could be institutionalized. But her vivid storytelling and perceptive insights into the natural and social worlds of Berenty make the tension between economic growth and environmental preservation come alive in human terms. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Madagascar, one of the world's poorest countries, became a political pawn during World War II, and since then has fought famine, a battle for independence, and, most recently, a civil war over a disputed presidential election. At the island's extreme southern end is Berenty, a private wildlife refuge founded by French aristocrats and home to an uncommon and inspiring coexistence of Western culture, nature, and native traditions. Jolly first came to Berenty as a 25-year-old "with a brand-new Ph.D and a Sputnik-era research grant" to study lemurs, and upon her arrival met the site's owner, Jean de Heaulme, a sisal farmer. Unlike other colonialists, the de Heaulmes recognized the importance of their surrounding environment and its history, and they forged a strong bond with the Tandroy, local tribespeople who still lived in traditional villages surrounded by thorn walls. The de Heaulmes, in fact, supported the move for independence from the French, and when Jean de Heaulme was jailed, the Tandroy marched on the prison, demanding his release. Jolly tells the story of Berenty with wit and surprise. Andy Boynton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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4 Reviews
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4.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars I want to go there., Jun 24 2004
By 
John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Lords and Lemurs: Mad Scientists, Kings With Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar (Hardcover)
Full Title: Lords and Lemurs : Mad Scientists, Kings With Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar. Madagascar seems to be one of those places where time has simply passed by without having any effect. A home of Lemurs - possibly the ancestors to both apes and humans - and a wild collection of people.

Dr. Jolly, whose more serious work includes Lucy's Legacy, has written this book as a relaxation from her normal studies. She is a great writer, and here is writing about something she loves. The love comes through.==The book is a biography, autobiography, history of the people and places. More than that it's a homage to a place and a time that you wouldn't think exists any more.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Rare insight into Madagascar, April 28 2004
By 
Roderick Eime (Sydney, AU) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Lords and Lemurs: Mad Scientists, Kings With Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar (Hardcover)
I had the great pleasure (and fortune) to meet Alison Jolly during my visit to Berenty in September 2003.

She graciously and eloquently addressed our small tour group and gave us a rare insight into her understanding of lemur behaviour.

The book is an absolute must for anybody with even a passing interest in Madagascar, anthropology and lemurs.

Most importantly, it documents this remarkable family (the de Hulmes) and sheds light on the complex and mysterious history of Berenty and its part in the modern history of Madagascar.

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5.0 out of 5 stars AN ASTUTE PERCEPTION OF PEOPLE AND PLACE, April 12 2004
By 
Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Lords and Lemurs: Mad Scientists, Kings With Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar (Hardcover)
Author Alison Jolly, an expert in the study of primate behavior, poses the following question with her remarkable new book: "Where can you find scientists from all over the world, a family of French aristocrats who never quite noticed the French Revolution, a pastoralist tribe who still think of themselves as spear-carrying warriors, six species of lemurs, and usually a TV team underfoot?"
The answer is Berenty, Madagascar.
Some 40 years ago Jolly went to Madagascar for the first time to study lemurs. The perfect research site was found at Berenty, a private wildlife refuge located on a plantation owned by a French family, the de Heaulmes.
As the family developed their plantation they also cultivated a congenial relationship with the native tribespeople, the Tandroy. The Tandroy, the "King with Spears are as proud a people as the French family that came to share their land. In this remarkable book Jolly tells the story of how the tribe lives today, retaining much of their original culture while availing themselves of beneficial modernities, such as health care and education.
Credit is due, Jolly notes, not only to the Tandroy but to the French aristocrats who feel and exhibit both respect and responsibility for the land, the people, and the animals with whom they live.
For instance, when the people of Madagascar sought freedom from France, the de Heaulmes stood with them, and when one of the de Heaulmes was jailed during a civil war, the Tandroy stormed the prison demanding his release.
Jolly is a gifted writer with an acute perception of people and places. It's a pleasure to visit Berenty with her as guide.
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