Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in KenyaA major work of history that for the first time reveals the violence and terror at the heart of Britain's civilizing mission in Kenya As part of the Allied forces, thousands of Kenyans fought alongside the British in World War II. But just a few years after the defeat of Hitler, the British colonial government detained nearly the entire population of Kenya's largest ethnic minority, the Kikuyu-some one and a half million people. The compelling story of the system of prisons and work camps where thousands met their deaths has remained largely untold-the victim of a determined effort by the British to destroy all official records of their attempts to stop the Mau Mau uprising, the Kikuyu people's ultimately successful bid for Kenyan independence. Caroline Elkins, an assistant professor of history at Harvard University, spent a decade in London, Nairobi, and the Kenyan countryside interviewing hundreds of Kikuyu men and women who survived the British camps, as well as the British and African loyalists who detained them. The result is an unforgettable account of the unraveling of the British colonial empire in Kenya-a pivotal moment in twentieth- century history with chilling parallels to America's own imperial project. Imperial Reckoning is the winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction. |
From inside the book
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Contents
PAX BRITANNICA | 1 |
BRITAINS ASSAULT ON MAU | 31 |
SCREENING | 62 |
REHABILITATION | 91 |
THE BIRTH OF BRITAINS GULAG | 121 |
THE WORLD BEHIND THE WIRE | 154 |
THE HARD CORE | 192 |
DOMESTIC TERROR | 233 |
DETENTION EXPOSED | 311 |
EPILOGUE | 354 |
THE OPERATING PIPELINE CIRCA JANUARY 1956 | 369 |
NOTES | 377 |
433 | |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 451 |
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS | 457 |
OUTRAGE SUPPRESSION and Silence | 275 |
Other editions - View all
Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya Caroline Elkins Limited preview - 2005 |
Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya Caroline Elkins Limited preview - 2010 |
Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya Caroline Elkins No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
Administration Aguthi allegations askaris Athi River August Barbara Castle beaten beating Britain's British colonial government brutality Central Province chief Christian colonial government's Colonial Office colonial rule colonial secretary colony's Committee Community Development compound confess detention camps district commissioner East African Embakasi Embu empire European February former detainees former Mau Mau Fort Hall Gakaara Gavaghan Governor Baring Hola Home Guard Ibid interview January Kahuro Kamiti Kapenguria Kariuki Kenya Kenya Regiment Kenyatta Kiambu District Kikuyu Kikuyu reserves labor Labour MPs land Langata Lennox-Boyd letter living London loyalists Lyttelton Macharia Mageta Mageta Island March Mathira Mau Mau adherents Mau Mau suspects memorandum ment minister missionaries Murang'a District Mwea Nairobi Nderi nial Nyeri District oath officer in charge Pipeline police political population prisons rehabilitation release repatriates Report Ruguru screening teams sent settlers tainees thousand tion torture villages violence White Highlands women young
References to this book
A Battlement of Spears: Based on Countless True Stories Bernard Botes Krüger No preview available - 2006 |