The Gun Smoke Still Lingers: A Memoir Through India, Jordan and Beyond

"During the celebrations held in Amman for my 80th birthday, my niece Christina read out a message she had brought from my brother, Colin. He wrote: 'In Jullunder we heard the gun salute for the death of the King Emperor George V and watched the gun smoke drift through the trees.' He ended his message with, 'It's a while since the gun smoke'. His words brought that day in January 1936 so vividly to life and evoked such memories of my youth in India. It is a country I have loved since childhood. Throughout all my years and all my travels, it has never dimmed. The call of doves, scent of water on dust, or roadside dung fires and the brilliance of flowers brings India to my mind's eye. It was many, many years before I was to return. As I came out of the airport into that hot, colourful, crowded, noisy scene I felt I had come home.FOREWORDAnn O'Neill's memoir, The Gun Smoke Still Lingers, is a thoughtful insight into her work and travels - a remarkable and inspiring account. I first knew M