Overview

Decades on from independence the role of Mau Mau still excites argument and controversy, not least in Kenya itself. More than fifty years after the declaration of the state of emergency the significance of Mau Mau is still debated. This collection combines retrospective overviews with research to achieve a multi-layered analysis of this topic. According to Professor Terence Ranger, Emeritus Rhodes Prfessor of Race Relations, University of Oxford: 'In some ways the historiography of Mau Mau is a supreme example not only of ambiguity and complexity but also of redemption of a topic that was once thought incapable of rational analysis.' North America: Ohio U Press; Kenya: EAEP

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9780852554845

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Reviews

'A thousand words can never do justice to this tremendous collection, so I will state at the outset that it is a must read. This book is not just about Mau Mau, or even Kenya. By comparison and implication, it addresses the issues of modern African states that were forced to follow the incredibly inappropriate European nation-state model as their only option to join the global world...As a book addressing many of the complexities of the African state and ethnicity, this collection provides new approaches, skilful writing, imaginative topics, and in-depth analyses on new dimensions and complexities of decolonization and nationalism.' - Cynthia Brantley in American Historical Review 'This excellent and expert collection offers samples of work from the burgeoning field of Mau Mau studies, dissecting the movement's socioeconomic foundations, recruitment and survival techniques, impact on British public opinion, interpretations in Kenyan fiction, and contested symbolism in post-independent Kenyan politics. Looking back on British official responses to the movement at the time, it is hard to avoid hearing eerie echoes of contemporary American attempts to analyze and pose solutions to the threat of international terrorism.' - Foreign Affairs 'This book represents a most welcome beginning to the fifth decade of studies of the Mau Mau rebellion...the contributions to this volume go beyond a discourse on Mau Mau and nationhood to present new and exciting insights on the military aspects of the rebellion, recruitment and survival, the struggle to contain the rebellion and rehabilitate participants and sympathisers, and impacts on imperial policy and in popular literary memory, well summed up in the book's sub-title, arms, authority, and narration. ' ...the new perspectives on the Mau Mau rebellion's place in Kenyan history represent outstanding contributions that will be read with profit by specialists in Kenya as well as those interested in resistance to colonial rule and its impact on British policy and Kenyan society.' - Robert M. Maxon in Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 'After the end of the Mau Mau war, Kenya rapidly became independent, and Jomo Kenyatta, Britain's nemesis and long-time prisoner as a Kikuyu nationalist, became president. Under his leadership, the meaning and realities of Mau Mau were downplayed. Collective amnesia was the preferred official posture. But Mau Mau still lives, as this excellent collection demonstrates.' - R.I. Rotberg in Choice 'Mau Mau and Nationhood is bound to become the book of choice on the impact of this war after half a century.' - Michael Chege in African Affairs

A thousand words can never do justice to this tremendous collection, so I will state at the outset that it is a must read. This book is not just about Mau Mau, or even Kenya. By comparison and implication, it addresses the issues of modern African states that were forced to follow the incredibly inappropriate European nation-state model as their only option to join the global world... As a book addressing many of the complexities of the African state and ethnicity, this collection provides new approaches, skilful writing, imaginative topics, and in-depth analyses on new dimensions and complexities of decolonization and nationalism. - Cynthia Brantley in AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW This excellent and expert collection offers samples of work from the burgeoning field of Mau Mau studies, dissecting the movement's socioeconomic foundations, recruitment and survival techniques, impact on British public opinion, interpretations in Kenyan fiction, and contested symbolism in post-independent Kenyan politics. Looking back on British official responses to the movement at the time, it is hard to avoid hearing eerie echoes of contemporary American attempts to analyze and pose solutions to the threat of international terrorism. FOREIGN AFFAIRS This book represents a most welcome beginning to the fifth decade of studies of the Mau Mau rebellion...the contributions to this volume go beyond a discourse on Mau Mau and nationhood to present new and exciting insights on the military aspects of the rebellion, recruitment and survival, the struggle to contain the rebellion and rehabilitate participants and sympathisers, and impacts on imperial policy and in popular literary memory, well summed up in the book's sub-title, arms, authority, and narration. ...the new perspectives on the Mau Mau rebellion's place in Kenyan history represent outstanding contributions that will be read with profit by specialists in Kenya as well as those interested in resistance to colonial rule and its impact on British policy and Kenyan society. - Robert M. Maxon in JOURNAL OF IMPERIAL & COMMONWEALTH HISTORY

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