Mau Mau Memoirs

Clough (history, U. of Northern Colorado) analyzes 13 personal accounts by Kenyans in order to make a case for not only their historical value, but their role in the struggle to define the importance of Mau Mau within Kenyan historiography and politics. He argues that the recollections of the authors, whose experiences ranged from organizing the secret movement, to supplying the guerillas, to active fighting, to resistance in the British detention camps, serve to refute both the British and Kenyan versions of the revolt. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Mrs. Queen's Chump is the military memoir of a young man who, naively acquiescing to a period of "adventure" after leaving boarding school, soon found himself enmeshed in the agonies of subjugated peoples caught in the turmoil of a collapsing British Empire and demanding restoration of their dignity and rightful human freedoms. Left to deal as best he could with his own transition from boy to man - somewhat before PTSD became a recognizable quantity - he realized as a born Canadian citizen he might easily have avoided service in Britain's army - but he had committed himself, so entered with his eyes open and became a keen observer. In stories that are sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, yet somehow tinged with the sadness that always jolts the loss of innocence, the author tells of experiences as an infantry officer fighting in the jungles of both Kenya and Malaya. They are incident of another time, yet hauntingly contemporary - soldiers sent to far off corners of the world to secure the privileges of tough and ambitious colonizers, themselves champions of Empire (no matter whose) who feel full entitlement over both people and resources. Bring up the troops! Despite clear dangers, thousands of bright-eyed and brainwashed young Brits whose invincible dads had recently thrashed Hitler were now, by the late 1940's and 1950's, keen to do their bit, to head abroad and "have a go" at running the Empire. They sallied forth into what they thought a halcyon sunset in need of some burnishing, but in reality dazzling in its madness. By the end their military weight and wallop proved insufficient to address the anger of millions of very "restless natives" - or to douse the frenzies of the likes of Idi Amin. The initial disease was Empire Myopia. Within a short time, and like Kurtz in Heart of Darkness, those who had come to impose order themselves succumbed to an Idi-like dementia that tumbled the whole wretched Empire to its knees. About the Author Born in Vancouver, Canada, Jeremy Hespeler-Boultbee started school in Australia, continued in the United States and Canada, and graduated from high school in Britain - this last giving rise to the military service described in these pages. A young and insightful officer, whose views often ran counter to those expressed by his superiors, he was in a unique position to observe the collapsing British Empire. Later, as a journalist living in Lisbon, Portugal, he was again witness - this time to the revolutionary shake-up and demise of another of Europe's entrenched old orders. Hespeler-Boultbee has worked on major assignments in Canada, the United States, Portugal and numerous countries in Africa. In addition to writing, he is an architectural historian specializing in Renaissance Portugal. He considers "home" to be Victoria, British Columbia, Barrancos, Portugal and Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Born in 1938 in rural Kenya, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o came of age in the shadow of World War II, amidst the terrible bloodshed in the war between the Mau Mau and the British. The son of a man whose four wives bore him more than a score of children, young Ngũgĩ displayed what was then considered a bizarre thirst for learning, yet it was unimaginable that he would grow up to become a world-renowned novelist, playwright, and critic. In Dreams in a Time of War, Ngũgĩ deftly etches a bygone era, bearing witness to the social and political vicissitudes of life under colonialism and war. Speaking to the human right to dream even in the worst of times, this rich memoir of an African childhood abounds in delicate and powerful subtleties and complexities that are movingly told.

Decades on from independence the role of Mau Mau still excites argument and controversy, not least in Kenya itself.

Prior to and after Kenya's independence, this biography recounts a Kenyan police officer's daily experiences, including armed combat in the bush, the technical operations in Nairobi, and the battle of wits against the South African intelligence services in Lesotho and Botswana. Exploring the intrigue and brutality of the officer's position, the book provides insight into security force operations.

Many of the issues are still pertinent to other African countries in the 21st century e.g clear parallels with Zimbabwe

Renowned novelist, poet, playwright, and literary critic Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was a student at a prestigious, British-run boarding school near Nairobi when the tumultuous Mau Mau Uprising for independence and Kenyan sovereignty gripped his country. While he enjoyed scouting trips and chess tournaments, his family home was razed to the ground and his brother, a member of the insurgency, was captured by the British and taken to a concentration camp. But Ngũgĩ could not escape history, and eventually found himself jailed after a run in with the forces of colonialism. Ngũgĩ richly and poignantly evokes the experiences that would transform him into a world-class writer and, as a political dissident, a moral compass to us all. A winning celebration of the implacable determination of youth and the power of hope, here is a searing account of the history of a man—and the story of a nation.

The second volume of memoirs from the renowned Kenyan novelist, poet and playwright covers his high school years at the end of British colonial rule in Africa, during the Mau Mau Uprising. 15,000 first printing.