Francis Hall was a Victorian man of the British empire who sailed from England to Mombassa in 1892 to work for the Imperial British East African Company. He wrote a series of letters to his immediate family, which were recently discovered in the Kenya National Archive. The letters are published here in their original form, along with supplementary information from the Royal Geographical Society in London, and material gleaned from the Francis Hall archive in Oxford on the early days of colonial settlement.

This work offers insight into the part played by superstition in British history - the omens and beliefs that have guided kings and shaped the course of battles. Fact, myth and slapstick have all played their part in the story of these islands, and popular versions of events sometimes differ from those found in the standard history books. This book contains over 400 current and continuing customs, over 300 things to see, and over 150 haunted sites. Each of the customs and celebrations included is given its appropriate day, from New Year's Day to Hogmanay, from Shetland to the Channel Islands....