Colonialism and imperialism Books

Book SynopsisFar from having to 'scram from Africa' following the abandonment of her 'East of Suez' role, and despite the problems of Mau Mau, and the even the Suez debacle on a larger international stage, Britain continued to vigorously pursue imperial African interests. And Kenya was centre-stage. Much scholarship has been devoted to the Emergency (1952-60), fear of a post-Mau Mau civil war, de-colonization and setting up independent Kenya but little on British policy in pursuing her vital interests beyond independence. "Britain, Kenya and the Cold War", shows Britain maintaining her strategic priorities in Kenya - cultivating the moderate Kenyatta government, giving up the unacceptable colonial army base, but retaining military camps, rights of overflying, staging and training, and arming and training the Kenyan military, including internal security. Kenyan de-colonization and British defence interests were intimately linked and vital within the context of the Cold War and East-West regional rivalry.Trade Review'David Percox tells us, for the first time, and from intimate, previously secret, primary sources, the fascinating early history of this military relationship between Britain and Kenya. Kenya was never merely a 'Happy Valley' of aristocratic white settlement. In the First World War it was the base from which the Kaiser was driven out of East Africa and, in the Second, from which Mussolini was ejected from Ethiopia. The British army re-learned its guerrilla tactics in order to defeat Mau Mau in Kenya's forests, and looked to a Kenya base for conducting an 'East of Suez' strategy during the Cold War. No wonder the British protected and armed the man they had most feared, Jomo Kenyatta, erstwhile 'leader to darkness and death' transformed into robust Cold War ally. Percox ends this first-rate study by giving neo-colonialism a precise, ironic, and martial meaning.' - John Lonsdale, Emeritus Professor of Modern African History, University of Cambridge; 'The historical study of Kenya's decolonization, always a popular topic in African historiography, has reached a new stage... David Percox, drawing on newly accessible colonial records at the British Public Record Office and concentrating on defence and security issues, argues that the pathway to the transfer of power was far from the orderly one that recent historical studies have proposed.' - Robert Tignor, Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction Defence and Internal Security, 1945-52 British Counter-Insurgency in Kenya, 1952-6 East Africa, East of Suez, 1956-7 East Africa, East of Suez II, 1957-9 Internal Security and Decolonisation, 1956-9 Internal Security and Decolonisation II, 1959-65 Defence and Decolonisation, 1956-65 Conclusion

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Book SynopsisFocussing on the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA), A Revolutionary History delivers a fresh perspective on the ambitions, ideologies and practices of this influential organisation, formed by Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh and inspired by transnational anti-imperial dissent. It is a new interpretation of the activities and political impact of the north Indian revolution- aries who advocated the use of political violence against the British. Kama Maclean contends that the actions of these revolutionaries had a direct impact on Congress politics and tested its policy of non- violence. In doing so she draws on visual culture studies, demonstrating the efficacy of imagery in constructing - as opposed to merely illustrating - historical narratives. Maclean analyses visual evidence alongside recently declassified government files, memoirs and interviews to elabo- rate on the complex relationships between the Congress and the HSRA, which were far less an- tagonistic than is frequently imagined.

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Book SynopsisIn the last decade an Iraqi Army and an Afghan National Army were created entirely from scratch, the founding of which was deemed to be a crucial measure for the establishment of security and the withdrawal of Western forces from Iraq and Afghanistan. Raising new armies is always problematic, especially during an insurgency, but doing so outside the sovereignty of one's own state raises questions of legality, concerns about their conduct and the risk of an over-empowered local military. The recruitment of proxies, including former insurgents, or the arming of local fighters and auxiliaries, levies and militias, may also exacerbate an internal security situation. In seeking answers to this conundrum Rob Johnson turns to history. His book sets out how recruitment of local auxiliaries was an essential component of European colonialism, and how, in the transfer of power and security at the end of that colonial era, the raising of local forces using existing Western models became the norm. He then offers a comprehensive survey of the post-colonial legacy, particularly the recent utilisation of surrogates and auxiliaries, the work of embedded training teams, and mentoring. Rob Johnson is Departmental Lecturer in the History of War, University of Oxford, and author of The Afghan Way of War: Culture and Pragmatism, A Critical History, published by Hurst.Trade Review‘Rob Johnson is becoming a familiar figure in this Journal’s reviews, and deservedly so . . . this is a well-written, almost magisterial treatment of a complex subject.’ 'This extraordinarily rich, detailed and nuanced volume should be required reading in Western militaries.''An important and highly significant book on "burden-sharing" by Western military powers through the hiring of local allies -- at once relevant for history and for current military affairs. Johnson argues forcefully that Western governments’ assumption that they can achieve their aims with airpower and local forces alone is deeply misguided.' -- Jeremy Black, Professor of History, University of Exeter'"True to Their Salt" is an ambitious "grand narrative? treatment of the nature and experience of indigenous forces recruited by Western powers during the days of empire, and more recently. Embracing a diverse range of case studies, it offers a unique overview that will make it a standard work of reference.' -- Ashley Jackson, Professor of Imperial and Military History, King’s College London; author of 'The British Empire: A Very Short Introduction''In a major work Johnson sets out a provocative and compelling case for the use of indigenous forces as a 'force multiplier' in contemporary military operations but as he admonishes, only if we understand the pull/push forces that lead men to enlist, and only if we have the cultural knowledge that will allow us to make the most of this untapped cultural capital.' -- Christopher Coker, Professor of International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science; author of Rebooting Clausewitz: ‘On War’ in the Twenty-First Century'This book should be read by anyone -- politician, general, journalist or scholar -- who thinks that the current Western approach to conflict in the Middle East is going to result in the stabilisation of the region and the strengthening of allied governments. Johnson expertly dissects how local auxiliaries, Western special forces and airstrikes will not lead to a promised land without a greater investment in understanding the host societies in which the West is trying to operate. An excellent read.' -- Mike Martin, author of 'An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict'‘Densely researched and very well documented . . . provides a sharp analysis of the recruitment, deployment, and devolution of local forces in often unorthodox war contexts and security situations.’

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Book SynopsisA number of studies of colonial Lahore in recent years have explored such themes as the city's modernity, its cosmopolitanism and the rise of communalism which culminated in the bloodletting of 1947. This first synoptic history moves away from the prism of the Great Divide of 1947 to examine the cultural and social connections which linked colonial Lahore with North India and beyond. In contrast to portrayals of Lahore as inward looking and a world unto itself, the authors argue that imperial globalisation intensified long established exchanges of goods, people and ideas. Ian Talbot and Tahir Kamran's book is reflective of concerns arising from the global history of Empire and the new urban history of South Asia. These are addressed thematically rather than through a conventional chronological narrative, as the book uncovers previously neglected areas of Lahore's history, including the links between Lahore's and Bombay's early film industries and the impact on the 'tourist gaze' of the consump--tion of both text and visual representation of India in newsreels and photographs.Trade Review'Colonial Lahore breathes new life into this city's recent history, bringing the local into direct and often intimate conversation with the global, and vice versa. It transforms our appreciation of Lahore's unique past, in effect sealing the city's credentials as one of South Asia's most important, if often overlooked, zones of interaction in the era of imperial globalisation.' * Sarah Ansari, Professor of History, Royal Holloway, University of London *'A very rich account of colonial Lahore, essential for understanding the place of the city in South Asia's past. It shows the great diversity and complexity of the city Lahore, and importantly, how it stood at the very heart of imperial connections and networks across the empire.' * Yasmin Khan, University Lecturer (Associate Professor) in British History, author of The Great Partition: the Making of India and Pakistan *'Talbot . . . has become the preeminent scholar of the history of Punjab both before and after independence in 1947... [an] informative . . . superb contribution'. 'Talbot and Kamran have made one of the first scholarly attempts to explore the social, cultural, and, to some extent, the economic, life of Lahore — one of the world's great cities, known to some as the 'Paris of the East'. Focussing on the colonial period, they make good use of evidence ranging from tourist guidebooks to newspaper advertisements. They also succeed in placing the city at the centre of a web of connections reaching out to the great cities of India – Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay and Karachi, but also to Afghanistan, Arabia, Europe and North America. The love which Talbot and Kamran have for Lahore is evident throughout.' * Francis Robinson, Professor of the History of South Asia, Royal Holloway, University of London *'This is a must read book by two leading specialists on Punjab history, providing a wonderfully rich introduction into the character and cosmopolitanism of Lahore under the raj. The volume is clearly written, well researched, and joy to read. It should be of great interest to the specialist and generalist alike.' * Gurharpal Singh, Professor in Inter-Religious Relations and Development, SOAS, University of London *

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Book SynopsisIn February 1937, following an abortive attack by a handful of insurgents on Mussolini's High Command in Italian-occupied Ethiopia, 'repression squads' of armed Blackshirts and Fascist civilians were unleashed on the defenceless residents of Addis Ababa. In three terror-filled days and nights of arson, murder and looting, thousands of innocent and unsuspecting men, women and children were roasted alive, shot, bludgeoned, stabbed to death, or blown to pieces with hand-grenades. Meanwhile the notorious Viceroy Rodolfo Graziani, infamous for his atrocities in Libya, took the opportunity to add to the carnage by eliminating the intelligentsia and nobility of the ancient Ethiopian empire in a pogrom that swept across the land. In a richly illustrated and ground-breaking work backed up by meticulous and scholarly research, Ian Campbell reconstructs and analyses one of Fascist Italy's least known atrocities, which he estimates eliminated 19-20 per cent of the capital's population.He exposes the hitherto little known cover-up conducted at the highest levels of the British government, which enabled the facts of one of the most hideous civilian massacres of all time to be concealed, and the perpetrators to walk free.Trade Review'[A] masterly history ... Ian Campbell has performed a tremendous service by rescuing from historical neglect and European propaganda the stories of the victims of 20th-century Italy's homicidal push for greatness.' - The National; 'A masterly examination of a hideous war crime which has never been so comprehensively researched. This forensic investigation is chillingly brought to life by the vivid memories of survivors whom the author has tirelessly tracked down. Campbell has done the world a great service by so clinically exposing such brutality.' - Keith Bowers, broadcaster and author of 'Imperial Exile: Emperor Haile Selassie in Britain 1936-40'; 'A detailed and fully documented account of one of the great under-reported atrocities of the twentieth century. Campbell makes a highly important contribution in exposing this extremely brutal yet virtually unknown episode. The entirely original testimony of surviving eyewitnesses adds striking vividness to this valuable book. Genuinely original.' - Christopher Clapham, Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge and author of 'The Horn of Africa'; 'Whilst the British and French were appeasing Mussolini, his blackshirts were slaughtering thousands of Ethiopians--a massacre completely ignored by the League of Nations. 80 years later, Ian Campbell's latest oeuvre is a concisely researched, well-documented and brilliantly written tribute to those forgotten victims of barbarous Italian Fascism in Ethiopia.' - Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate PhD, historian, bestselling author and political analyst; 'Ian Campbell's book is a chilling account of one of the most terrible crimes against humanity of the twentieth century: the massacre by occupying Italians over three days in February 1937 of thousands of Ethiopian citizens in Addis Ababa. Campbell reconstructs in meticulous detail, from a wide range of sources, including many eyewitness testimonies, the initial trigger for the massacre, its various stages, the responsibilities of different groups of perpetrators, and its legacy in later memory... The result is the most comprehensive and accurate account now available in any language of the Yekatit 12 massacre.' - David Forgacs, Guido and Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimo Professor of Contemporary Italian Studies, New York University; author of 'Italy's Margins'; 'This book rounds out the trilogy that Ian Campbell has worked on for such a long period of time. The first, The Plot to Kill Graziani, was a great success; the second, The Massacre of Debre Libanos, was another research feat. The third has all the makings of a blockbuster. It is a meticulously researched, brilliantly written and abundantly illustrated book. It is a must read for all those interested in the history of Fascism globally and in the modern history of Ethiopia.' - Shiferaw Bekele, Professor of History, Addis Ababa University; 'The February 1937 massacre by Fascist Italy of thousands of defenceless Ethiopian civilians stands as the first and least known genocide of World War II. Ian Campbell spent more than twenty years conducting research on that killing field, in which countless men, women and children were wiped out, and educated Ethiopians, community leaders and notables were systematically eliminated. It is good to have this authoritative synthesis of that horrifying event between two covers at last.' - Donald N. Levine, Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Chicago; author of Wax and Gold: Tradition and innovation in Ethiopian Culture and Greater Ethiopia; 'Campbell's detailed research, which cuts much new ground, provides the reader with a daily, almost hourly, picture of the infamous three days, enhanced by many photographic images not previously in the public domain.' - Richard K. Pankhurst, Professor of History, Addis Ababa University; author of 'The Ethiopians: A History', and 'Sylvia Pankhurst: Counsel for Ethiopia'

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Book SynopsisWestern interventions today have much in common with the countless violent conflicts that have occurred on Europe's periphery since the conquest of the Americas in the sixteenth century. Like their predecessors, modern imperial wars are shaped especially by spatial features and by pronounced asymmetries of military organisation, resources, modes of warfare and cultures of violence between the respective parties. Today's imperial wars are essentially civil wars, in which Western powers are only one player among many. As ever, the Western military machine is proving incapable of resolving political strife through force, or of engaging opponents with no reason to offer conventional combat, who instead rely on guerrilla warfare and terrorism. And, as they always have, local populations pay the price for these shortcomings. Colonial Violence aims to offer, for the first time, a coherent explanation of the logic of violent hostilities within the context of European expansion. Walter's analysis reveals parallels between different empires and continuities spanning historical epochs. He concludes that recent Western military interventions, from Afghanistan to Mali, are not new wars, but stand in the 500-year-old tradition of transcultural violent conflict, under the specific conditions of colonialism.Trade Review'An important book that offers a clear point of view on the violence inherent to imperialism, whether Western or not. Worth considering alongside high rates of violence in recent and current non-Western warfare.' -- Jeremy Black'[Colonial Violence] provides valuable insights on how environment, technology, race, fear, logistics, economics and other factors shaped the character of colonial clashes, and why empire is still a valuable mens of understanding organised violence in the contemporary world. [This book is] ambitious and challenging [and] will be of interest to scholars working in a variety of historical subfields.' -- H-Net'With its sophisticated analysis and thorough use of the scholarly literature on its subject, this is a study that nobody interested in the subject can afford to neglect.’'It is excellent that Dierk Walter's survey of colonial conflict has been translated into English. This is military history as it should be written: conceptually broad, chronologically ambitious, and -- above all - transnational. His case for continuity -- bridging colonial conquest, decolonisation, and recent interventions -- will provoke, as it should, but that is the hallmark of an important book.' -- Sir Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War, Oxford University'Broad canvas syntheses that put violence at the heart of the West’s engagement with the wider world have been rare -- understanding and acceptance of the significance and consequences of its violence rarer still. Walter brings enormous comparative and summary power to its study, resulting in a highly readable and necessary work. "Colonial Violence" should stand as an elegant corrective, particularly in its emphasis on the continuity of violence through to the present day.' -- Ashley Jackson, Professor of Imperial and Military History, King’s College London; author of 'The British Empire: A Very Short Introduction''"Colonial Violence" offers a comprehensive, scholarly interpretation and synthesis of the pattern of military violence associated with imperialism since around 1600. Based on a wide and deep familiarity with imperial military campaigns and asymmetric conflict, its conclusions regarding the weakness of the imperial powers relative to their indigenous foes, the continuities in imperial campaigns over time and place, and the root cause of excessive violence in the imperial situation rather than in ideology, will surprise and challenge many readers. Well written and clearly organised, this study will doubtless become a standard account of imperial military violence.' -- Isabel Virginia Hull, John Stambaugh Professor of History, Cornell University'Walter, with forensic skill, comprehensively analyses the causes, courses, and consequences of colonial wars and violence. This startlingly good study should be read and thought over by all with an interest in Europe’s global imperial military reach over the past five hundred years.' -- David Killingray, Emeritus Professor, Goldsmiths London ‘An important book that offers a clear point of view on the violence inherent to imperialism, whether Western or not. Worth considering alongside high rates of violence in recent and current non-Western warfare.’ — -- Jeremy Black, Professor of History, University of Exeter

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Book SynopsisThe storm came on the night of 31 October. It was a full moon, and the tides were at their peak; the great rivers of eastern Bengal were flowing high and fast to the sea. In the early hours the inhabitants of the coast and islands were overtaken by an immense wave from the Bay of Bengal -- a wall of water that reached a height of 40 feet in some places. The wave swept away everything in its path, drowning around 215,000 people. At least another 100,000 died in the cholera epidemic and famine that followed. It was the worst calamity of its kind in recorded history. Such events are often described as 'natural disasters'. Kingsbury turns that interpretation on its head, showing that the cyclone of 1876 was not simply a 'natural' event, but one shaped by all-too-human patterns of exploitation and inequality -- by divisions within Bengali society, and the enormous disparities of political and economic power that characterised British rule on the subcontinent. With Bangladesh facing rising sea levels and stronger, more frequent storms, there is every reason to revisit this terrible calamity. An Imperial Disaster is troubling but essential reading: history for an age of climate change.Trade Review'A book which should be widely read... It demystifies the official disclaimer that these are 'natural calamities' for which the administration is not responsible, exposing how the British colonial administration's policies in nineteenth century Bengal destroyed the coastal environment that led to the devastating cyclone of 1876.' -- Sumanta Banerjee'Kingsbury’s book holds lessons from the past for a climate-changed world … meticulously researched … this thoroughly engaging book should be required reading for historians of South Asia, environmental historians and scholars of disaster studies. Written with an acute sensitivity and historically rich, it is a story of the present as much as a story of the past.’ -- Economic & Political Weekly'Kingsbury's book is a searing indictment of the British Raj' -- The Journal of Asian Studies'In the age of the Anthropocene, An Imperial Disaster complicates the distinctions usually made between natural and human disasters. This meticulously researched and lucidly presented account of the late nineteenth century Bengal cyclone, will be as relevant to historians of the Indian subcontinent as it will be to scholars thinking about Hurricane Katrina or the Australian wildfire.' -- Rochona Majumdar'A well-written, very readable book, based on many official records and newspapers. It is full of telling details and anecdotes and emphasises the official failures, neglect, misinformation, damaging ideology, and personal ambition of colonial rule during the 1870s.' -- Peter Robb'Narrated in beautiful prose and based on scrupulous scholarship, with an unerring eye for the apposite quotation, 'An Imperial Disaster' is microhistory at its best. It lays bare the imperial and human context of a natural disaster and reveals, equally shockingly, how no substantive lessons were learnt from it.' -- Dr Chandrika Kaul'Lucidly argued and meticulously referenced... the story of colonial apathy, greedy landlords and the ruthless laissez-faire policy of the state is vividly rendered against a background where thousands perished due to drowning and disease. The study is an important contribution to the economic and environmental history of India.' -- Vinita Damodaran

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Book SynopsisIn the wake of Brexit, the Commonwealth has been identified as an important body for future British trade and diplomacy, but few know what it actually does. How is it organised and what has held it together for so long? How important is the monarch’s role as Head of the Commonwealth? Most importantly, why has it had such a troubled recent past, and is it realistic to imagine that its fortunes might be reversed? ​In The Empire’s New Clothes,​ Murphy strips away the gilded self-image of the Commonwealth to reveal an irrelevant institution afflicted by imperial amnesia. He offers a personal perspective on this complex and poorly understood institution, and asks if it can ever escape from the shadow of the British Empire to become an organisation based on shared values, rather than a shared history.Trade Review'A brilliant and unique book. At times witty, always insightful and disarmingly honest, it is also brave. Many won't like the message Murphy has to convey, despite his position of almost unassailable authority. He exquisitely conveys the evolution of the Commonwealth: its astoundingly slippery identity, its meaning(lessness), its struggles with hypocrisy, its grinding focus on process and disregard for output, and its empty pronouncements.' -- Ashley Jackson, Professor of Imperial and Military History, King's College London, and author of 'The British Empire: A Very Short Introduction''A brilliant demolition of the myth of commonwealth and of the power of imperial nostalgia that leaves one unsure whether to laugh or cry at the cynicism of those who pretend to believe in it, or the naivety of those who condemn its malevolent power. The brutal reality, it shows, is that that Brexit will reduce the long tiny UK commonwealth trade. A timely and necessary book.' -- David Edgerton, Hans Rausing Professor of the History of Science and Technology and Professor of Modern British History, King's College London, and author of 'The Rise and Fall of the British Nation: A Twentieth-Century History''In this skilful, witty and deeply-informed book, Philip Murphy has punctured the mythology that still hangs over the Commonwealth. He shows convincingly that inertia rather than shared values or common interests has been its main "glue". Recent talk in post-Brexit Britain of a "return" to the Commonwealth betrays a depth of ignorance bordering on fantasy, he suggests, comprehensively skewering the nonsense that the Commonwealth could be a substitute for European Union membership. A brilliant, thought-provoking, and highly readable study that should be essential reading for those who now guide our affairs.' -- John Darwin, Nuffield College, University of Oxford; author of 'Unfinished Empire: The Global Expansion of Britain'‘There has been a good deal written seeking to explain Brexit, but [this is] my favourite. . . The director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies elegantly dissects the fantasy of Leavers that having lost its political relevance this institution could turbo-charge Empire 2.0.’'Murphy’s analysis is fascinating. He brings a sceptical eye to the organisation and discusses its internal dealings with wry detachment.'‘Philip Murphy’ s new book is an eloquent counterblast to the claim that the Commonwealth can be a substitute for the European Union (EU) in post-Brexit Britain’s global role . . . it is also the first authoritative survey of the evolution of the Commonwealth in the twenty-first century. A very easy . . . fun book to read.’'A thoughtful and provocative inquiry into Britain’s current role as a leading country of the Commonwealth, this iconoclastic book explodes many myths about Britain’s empire. It is sure to stimulate much debate, and will cause readers to nod vigorously or sigh in exasperated disagreement.' -- Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, author of 'Ghosts of Empire: Britain’s Legacies in the Modern World''Philip Murphy’s is a witty, informative and much-needed critique from an insider who writes with a wealth of experience as well as an astute awareness of the gap between rhetoric and reality. His book is a sobering reminder that the Commonwealth has lost whatever relevance it once had and is ready for reinvention — or burial.' -- Shashi Tharoor, author of 'Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India''Mercurial, maverick and mischievous, Murphy writes as an outsider-insider, having been head of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies for a number of years. This is going to shake the tree. And about time.' -- Joanna Lewis, Associate Professor of International History, London School of Economics. Times Higher Education Books of the Year.

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Book SynopsisIn a world dominated by the British Empire, and at a time when many Europeans considered black people inferior, Sierra Leonean writer A. B. C. Merriman-Labor claimed his right to describe the world as he found it. He looked at the Empire's great capital and laughed. In this first biography of Merriman-Labor, Danell Jones describes the tragic spiral that pulled him down the social ladder from writer and barrister to munitions worker, from witty observer of the social order to patient in a state-run hospital for the poor. In restoring this extraordinary man to the pantheon of African observers of colonialism, she opens a window onto racial attitudes in Edwardian London. An African in Imperial London is a rich portrait of a great metropolis, writhing its way into a new century of appalling social inequity, world-transforming inventions, and unprecedented demands for civil rights. WINNER OF THE HIGH PLAINS BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTIONTrade Review'A must read.' ‘A brilliant biography . . . [Jones] has given a vivid picture of London one hundred years ago.’ 'An engaging, worthwhile biography. … Jones uncovers the life of a historical ghost, nearly lost to the world' -- Choice‘The richness and wider implications of Merriman-Labor’s life and sojourn in England come out vividly in [this] book because of Jones’ careful research, analytical rigor, and lively writing.’ -- Journal of African History'Written with great verve, An African in Imperial London reconstructs the life of A.B.C. Merriman-Labor... Both he and his biographer provide a rich picture of London, particularly in his most important work... an enlightening account of what it meant to be black in the most powerful country in the world'. -- Peter Stansky'Historical rigour, literary skill and a deep sense of humanity pervades this splendid biography which recovers from the condescension of the past the world of Augustus Merriman-Labor.' -- David Killingray'The moving and surprising story of A.B.C. Merriman-Labor, both insider and outsider in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Africa and England, is also a compelling contemporary parable about the interaction between individuals and society.' -- Edward MendelsonElegantly written and meticulously researched for over seven years, An African in Imperial London presents the life and times of Augustus Merriman-Labor: Sierra Leonean writer, barrister, munitions worker during the First World War, and much more besides. This is an important addition to the history of Africans in Britain.' -- Hakim Adi

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Book SynopsisMuch of the recent surge in writing about the practice of nonviolent forms of resistance has focused on movements that occurred after the end of the Second World War, many of which have been extremely successful. Although the fact that such a method of resistance was developed in its modern form by Indians is acknowledged in this writing, there has not until now been an authoritative history of the role of Indians in the evolution of the phenomenon. Celebrated historian David Hardiman shows that while nonviolence is associated above all with the towering figure of Mahatma Gandhi, ‘passive resistance’ was already being practised by nationalists in British-ruled India, though there was no principled commitment to nonviolence as such. It was Gandhi, first in South Africa and then in India, who evolved a technique that he called ‘satyagraha’. His endeavours saw ‘nonviolence’ forged as both a new word in the English language, and a new political concept. This book conveys in vivid detail exactly what nonviolence entailed, and the formidable difficulties that the pioneers of such resistance encountered in the years 1905-19.Trade Review'Hardiman looks at the tangled web around the idea of ahimsaor non-violence both as a religious creed and its crossing over to the political domain at a time when organised mass mobilisation had just begun in India.''Hardiman demolishes the myth that Gandhian nonviolence succeeded in India because the colonial state observed the law. . . . This is a book every university should have in its library.'‘Provides new insights into India’s nationalist struggle during the first two decades of the 20th century . . . this book is required reading for those who wish to understand not only the central role Gandhi played in the Indian nationalist struggle but also the cooperation and contestation required of mass movements involving different social groups.’'Hardiman locates Gandhi in the little-known history of earlier Indian experiments with nonviolence, showing nonviolent resistance to be both creative and problematic, ambiguous and difficult, depending on the contexts in which it was practiced. A refreshing and illuminating approach.' -- Judith M. Brown'Hardiman brings his fierce capacity for scholarly focus to the formative period of India's freedom struggle. A vital and illuminating study of building strategy and a mass base, the honing of the practices of resistance, and the construction of a whole philosophy that has come to be called "nonviolence".' -- Akeel Bilgrami'An excellent contribution to the literature on nonviolent resistance.' -- April Carter'A valuable contribution to our understanding of the contested nature of nonviolence in India before the better-known Salt March. An important read for anyone who is interested in putting civil resistance in its historical context.' -- Erica Chenoweth

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Book SynopsisA revealing picture of a time when Britain was losing its empire. It draws on letters written at the period by an airman, his vivid memories and experiences from the Canal Zone, Kenya during Mau Mau times, Cyprus and Jerusalem. His time encompassed conducting church services, being shipwrecked, numerous wildlife encounters and the formation of many lifelong friendships. The Canal Zone was no easy life and 50 years later a medal was awarded when the government was forced to admit it was deserved and to confess its own political chicanery in the events. Hamish paints a picture of the highs and lows of RAF life, a station being run down in Egypt, working in oppressive heat and now and then being shot at! He saw the Windrush a week before it exploded and sank in the Mediterranean; both the Windrush story and that of building the Suez Canal are detailed in an appendix. There is much to find in this story including background histories to events and the politics of the time. As a whole it provides a fascinating account of the era.

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Book SynopsisThe period between the two World Wars were troubling years for colonial empire. Individuals and organizations called for major reforms and an end to white supremacy and colonial rule, contributing first to local unrest and protest and then to anticolonial activity not only in Africa but the United States and Europe as well. In this compelling history, Jonathan Derrick recounts the opposition to British and French rule practised both by Africans living on the continent and by European anticolonialists and members of the Black Diaspora. He covers campaigns waged by an early incarnation of the ANC and other groups in South Africa who fought against legal and other aspects of white minority rule. He also analyses the Kikuyu protests against the settler regime in Kenya; Marcus Garvey's African American movement and its role in sparking interest in Africa; the Etoile Nord Africaine, formed mainly by Algerians in France, that called for the independence of French North Africa; protests led by European critics against forced labor in Kenya and French Equatorial Africa; and the activity of small militant groups like the Ligue de Defense de la Race Negre (LDRN) in France and George Padmore's International African Service Bureau (IASB) in Britain. Derrick also examines the role of the Comintern and Western Communist parties that were opposed to Western colonialism and ready to support militant action against it. He shows that, although colonial rulers greatly feared the specter of Communism in Africa, actual Communist activity was in fact quite small. The onset of the Second World War pushed colonial issues to the background, but as Derrick argues, in the long term the anticolonialists of the interwar era helped pave the way for later decolonisation.Trade ReviewA richly detailed, well-researched study of African political activism between the two World Wars ... an important contribution to an under-explored period in African history. Derrick presents a study that is valuable for both its breadth of information and the arguments it raises for the role of Africa in global anti-imperialism during the first half of the twentieth century. -- Benjamin Talton, International Journal of African History StudiesThis is an impressive and scholarly synthesis of a huge amount of historical data that succeeds in presenting a strong narrative of African agitation against colonial rule at the height of European imperialism. As such, this project makes a novel contribution to knowledge. -- Dr Robert Shilliam, Oxford University

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Book SynopsisThis present volume presents annotated selections from the British records that were copied in situ by the author in al-Fashir and Kutum in 1970 and 1974 and of which the originals were subsequently destroyed by accident. The British were in Darfur for only forty years (1916-56) and, administratively, their impact was minimal. In retrospect, their most important role was in recording and codifying the customary law and administrative practice under the sultans. Their significance has become the greater recently following reports that the Sudan National Records Office is no long accessible to researchers. Darfur was unique in a Sudanese colonial context in that in 1916 the British conquered a functioning multi-ethnic African Muslim state. Their policy in the forty years of their rule was largely to maintain the system they had inherited from the sultans. Although they made some administrative modifications, it was only in the last few years before independence in 1956 that tentative steps were taken towards change, for example the introduction of local government in the towns.The material described here, a combination of administrative practice and ethnographic reporting, is far from simply academic in importance, but is invaluable on such issues as land tenure, agricultural practice, grazing rights and livestock migration routes, tribal administration and compensation for injury and death.Trade Review'Sean O'Fahey, the premier historian of Darfur, has produced an invaluable compendium of key documents from the brief but significant period of British administration in the province, with insightful commentary. It is a fascinating window into a world that has passed into history, but whose details are still highly relevant to administration and conflict resolution in Darfur today. It is also a record of how the British consolidated Darfur's older sultanic system of governance, in a way that retains a powerful grip on Darfurians' political imagination.' -- Alex de Waal, Research Professor and Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation, Tufts UniversityThis magnificent and carefully evaluated collection of closely commented documents could easily be titled 'Understanding Sudan's Sahelian crisis, ' so helpful is it in explaining why the Nilotic giant is choking on his undigested western colony.' -- Gerard Prunier, author of Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide

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Book SynopsisPatrick John Dowling's 'Hedge Schools In Ireland' is a comprehensive chronicle of the underground education movement that emerged in 17th century Ireland, in the shadow of the oppressive 'penal laws.' These laws were directed against Irish Catholics and Ulster Presbyterians, as part of a long-standing British effort to impose their laws and customs, dating back to the failed Norman invasions of the 12th century. This book traces the resilience of the Gaelic Irish and Old English descendants who resisted Protestant conversion during the 16th-century Tudor reign and maintained their unique culture outside Dublin's Pale region. Dowling examines the political and religious tensions of the era, from Catholic loyalties being viewed as suspect due to European Catholic kingdoms supporting Irish rebellions, to the Cromwellian reconquest leading to land seizure from native Irish and Old English Catholics, effectively placing power in the hands of a Protestant minority. These tensions culminated in William III of Orange's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, solidifying Protestant control. The book delves into the impact of the penal laws that curtailed the rights of Catholics and Dissenters, relegating Catholic priests to fugitive status and banning Catholic schools between 1723 and 1782. Consequently, the vast majority of the Irish population was denied formal education, cementing the link between Catholicism and Irish identity. In response, 'hedge' schools emerged clandestinely to educate those who could not afford schooling abroad. Contrary to the term's implications, most of these makeshift schools operated in private houses and barns. The book recounts how these schools evolved from hidden institutions into an acknowledged part of Irish society, with records even appearing in British censuses. Dowling highlights the influence of 18th-century Enlightenment values, liberal Protestant planters identifying as Irish, and calls for reforms sparked by the 1798 rebellion and Daniel O'Connell's peaceful 19th-century Catholic Emancipation movement. By 1831, the National School system was established, marking the decline of hedge schools, with Catholic Church-run national schools dominating by the late 19th century. Dowling's work concludes by noting the continuing existence of hedge school forms into the late 19th century, underscoring the tenacity of Irish commitment to education.Table of ContentsThe Disappearance of the Old Order Education and the Penal Code English Schools in Ireland on Public and Private Foundation before 1782 The Education Societies The Rise of The Hedge Schools The Hedge School at Work The Standard of Knowledge Attained School Books The Making of the Schoolmaster The Income of the Schoolmaster The Social Prestige of the Schoolmaster The Poet Schoolmasters The Teacher of the City "Academy" The Last of the Philomaths

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Book SynopsisDespite the fact that Western governments have provided Ukraine with over $10 billion in foreign aid, little is known of Ukraine's economy since it declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. In this book, Professor Banaian describes the halting steps towards transition that Ukraine has taken and analyses their effects. Ukraine is an example of how slow or gradual reform was attempted and stopped. The author argues that this has been the result of several political and economic factors, and that the resulting 'arrested transition' may continue indefinitely. Backed by extensive econometric analysis, the book provides insight into its hyperinflationary experience, the causes of continued economic contraction, Ukraine's experience with exchange rate regime changes, its large underground economy and the prospects for long run growth. The Ukrainian Economy since Independence will be of interest to scholars of the economics and political science of transition as well as policymakers in the area.Trade Review'Banaian's recollections and analysis of the Ukrainian economy show vividly why not all transitions have a happy ending. Ideology and poor policy choices can combine to forestall even the most hopeful signs of a recovery. Given Ukraine's economic potential, the outcome is truly tragic.' -- Pierre Siklos, Wilfrid Laurier University, CanadaTable of ContentsContents: Preface Part I: From Independence to Constitution 1. The Rush to Independence 2. The Hyperinflation Process 3. Reform and Power 4. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back Part II: The Next Stage of Transition 5. The Defeat of the Clans 6. Prospects for Growth in Ukraine 7. Conclusions Index

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Book SynopsisThe Gordonia region of the Northern Cape Province has received relatively little attention from historians. In Hidden Histories of Gordonia: Land dispossession and resistance in the Northern Cape, 1800–1990, Martin Legassick explores aspects of the generally unknown ‘brown’ and ‘black’ history of the region. Emphasising the lives of ordinary people, his writing is also in part an exercise in ‘applied history’ – historical writing with a direct application to people’s lives in the present.Tracing the indigenous history of Gordonia as well as the northward movement of Basters and whites from the western Cape through Bushmanland to the Orange River, the book presents accounts of family histories, episodes of indigenous resistance to colonisation, and studies of the ultimate imposition of racial segregation and land dispossession on the inhabitants of the region. A recurrent theme is the question of identity and how the extreme ethnic fluidity and social mixing apparent in earlier times crystallised in the colonial period into racial identities, until with fi nal conquest came imposed racial classifi cation.Trade Review"This is a magnum opus, summing up a quarter century of research by one of the most senior and important South African historians." - Neil Parsons, former professor of history, University of Botswana. "There are few areas in South Africa that are like Gordonia. It is to Legassick's great credit that he recognised this, but nevertheless makes the history of the country's major area of desert part of South Africa's totality. It is a major achievement and an important book." - Robert Ross, historian and author of The Borders of Race in Colonial South Africa: The Kat River Settlement, 1829-1856Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; Acronyms and abbreviations; Illustrations; Preface; Chapter 1 The prehistory of Gordonia; Chapter 2 The Baster settlement of Gordonia and its decline; Chapter 3 The will of Abraham and Elizabeth September: a struggle for land in Gordonia, 1898-2014; Chapter 4 From prisoners to exhibits: representations of Bushmen of the northern Cape, 1880-1900; Chapter 5 South African human remains and the politics of repatriation: reconsidering the legacy of Rudolf Poch; Chapter 6 The early history of the brown Afrikaners in Riemvasmaak; Chapter 7 The battle of Naroegas; Chapter 8 The Marengo rebellion and Riemvasmaak, 1903-1907; Chapter 9 The racial division of Gordonia, 1921-1930; Chapter 10 Keidebees and Blikkies locations, Upington, 1894-1974; Chapter 11 'All my powers have been swallowed by Upington': the life and times of Alfred Gubula; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisThe period 1995 to 2004 was the UN's International Decade of World Indigenous Peoples. This reflected the increasing organisation of indigenous peoples around a commonality of concerns, needs and ambitions. In both New Zealand and Canada, these politics challenge the colonial structures that social and political systems are built upon.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Engaging Indigeneity; Nga Tangata Whenua; Sovereignty Lost, Tino Rangatiratanga Reclaimed, Self-Determination Secured, Partnership Forged; Aboriginal Peoples of Canada; Re-Priming the Partnership; Contesting the Constitutional Terrain, Shifting the Foundational Rules; Indigeneity at the Edge; Index.

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Book SynopsisThe 1870s is a key decade in the evolution of British thinking about the nature, purpose, and future of empire. Increasing economic competition began to disturb the complacent assumption about Britain's leadership in technology and in the world economy. The growth of other countries, most notably the United States and Germany, put in question Britain's survival as a great power. These changes set in motion a reappraisal of Britain's empire and its importance to the motherland, and a heated debated as to whether colonialism and imperialism were a burden rather than a benefit to Britain. The discussion of the 1870s set the agenda for the debates of the next half-century. This volume documents the writing central to the debate; it includes contributions by such leading British thinkers and statesmen as J. A. Froude, Robert Lowe, Edward Dicey, Frederic Seebohm, Lord Carnarvon, Gladstone, Julius Vogel, and Lord Blachford.

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Book SynopsisWith material provided by the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs’ office, court transcripts from Delgam’Uukw v. British Columbia, and her own research, Dawn Mills paints a compelling picture of the Gitxsan and their right to land and self-government. While the book focuses on the judgments rendered in the Gitxsan’s struggle in the Supreme Court and an analysis of the judgments and strategies utilized, Mills also details the Gitxsan relationship to the land and their community. Contrary to the position taken by many legal scholars, Mills argues that the trial judgment in the Delgam’Uukw decision opened up new opportunities for First Nations people to present evidence based on oral traditions that had not been previously accepted by the courts. Table of ContentsForeword / Don RyanIntroductionGitxsan Glossary1. Be Gentle on the Newcomers2. Since the Coming of the Lixs giigyet The Arrival of the Lixs giigyet: The Regional Economy 1795 - 1910Tensions between the Lixs giigyet and the Gitxsan: 1871 - 1884The Land QuestionThe Establishment of the Reserve Commission in 1875Reserve Allocations: 1891 - 1898The Stewart-Vowell Commission3. The Trials of the GitxsanDelgam’Uukw v. Attorney General of British ColumbiaAfter 1927: Background to the 1987 TrialThe Calder CaseThe British Columbia Court of Appeal Decision, 1993Delgam’Uukw v. British Columbia, 19974. Gitxsan Property, Ownership, and GovernanceWilp Property and OwnershipThe Sigidim haanak’a and Governance PrinciplesLi’ligit5. Gitxsan ReconciliationPast Usage of the CrownGitxsan Acts of ReconciliationThe Gitxsan Treaty ModelGovernanceConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisFrom 1955 onwards, when the anti-colonial movement split into competing ethnic sections, conflict between African and Indian Guyanese has held Guyana in a deadlock which has undermined all attempts at social and economic development. At its height exploding into civil war in the 1960s, the constant state of tension has led to rigged elections, authoritarian government, economic collapse and driven hundreds of thousands of Guyanese to emigrate. Even in the present, when for the first time for decades, free and fair elections can be held, winning and losing further divides the nation.Judaman Seecoomar's book offers an analysis of how Guyana has arrived at this impasse and suggests a process that could lead out of it. He identifies a history of authoritarian government where those who control the state (whether colonial governments in the past, those who seized power through rigged elections, or those who gained it by virtue of having the support of the ethnic majority), have responded to Guyana's cultural pluralism by suppressing or ignoring the interests of the minority. He argues that the failure to satisfy the human needs of all Guyana's ethnic groups is the root cause of conflict and only their satisfaction offers a means of harnessing all the nation's energies for development. He identifies the crucial needs as being those that relate to security, the recognition of cultural identity, participation in decision-making and the fair distribution of social rewards.The book looks to the developing practice of conflict resolution through strategies of collaborative problem solving. It argues that such a process would offer Guyana the means of finding constitutional and institutional arrangements acceptable to all ethnic groups. It provides both an account of the theoretical frameworks for such an approach and case studies of conflict resolution in action in Northern Ireland and in the Oslo talks between Israelis and Palestinians. It documents the initial attempts by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to broker talks between the main Guyanese political parties.In a world where internal conflict in multi-ethnic states is the major source of regional instability, this is a timely book.Judaman Seecoomar was born July 15 1932; he died March 26 2006. He had recently completed a PhD on inter-racial conflict in Guyana.

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Book SynopsisThe Spanish conquest and colonisation of the Americas dramatically transformed the lives of native peoples in Mesoamerica and the Andes. This revolutionary and multilayered process varied greatly in its intensity and timing from region to region, but in all cases radically changed indigenous societies, their values and beliefs. The encounter between native peoples and the Spanish conquistadors and later settlers was marked by violence and drastic, epidemic-driven population decline. This dislocatory phase gradually gave way to myriad forms of accommodation, resistance, and social, cultural and religious hybridity -- the colonial heritage of Spanish America. The innovative essays in this volume compare the colonial experience of native peoples of the conquered Aztec, Maya and Inca civilisations, from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. They highlight their creative responses to the challenges posed by colonial rule, its institutions, religion, and legal and economic systems. Interdisciplinary in approach, the essays distil a generation of scholarship and suggest an agenda for future research. This book will be of great interest to historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, and post-colonialists.

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Book SynopsisThe Nawab Nazim was born into one of India's most powerful royal families. Three times the size of Great Britain, his kingdom ranged from the soaring Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. However, in 1880, he was forced to abdicate by the British authorities, who saw him as a threat and permanently abolished his titles. The Nawab's change in fortune marked the end of an era in India and left his secret English family abandoned. The Last Prince of Bengal tells the true story of the Nawab Nazim and his family as they sought by turns to befriend, settle in and eventually escape Britain. From glamourous receptions with Queen Victoria to a scandalous Muslim marriage with an English chambermaid; and from Bengal tiger hunts to sheep farming in the harsh Australian outback, Lyn Innes recounts her ancestors' extraordinary journey from royalty to relative anonymity. This compelling account visits the extremes of British rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, exposing complex prejudices regarding race, class and gender. It is the intimate story of one family and their place in defining moments of recent Indian, British and Australian history.Trade Review'I was captivated and surprised by this bitter-sweet history as it twists and turns down three generations, through many astonishing changes of fame and fortune, from a glittering Bengal palace to an Australian sheep farm. Lovingly researched and meticulously told, The Last Prince of Bengal is notable for its candid revelations of British colonial attitudes and hypocrisies across two centuries. A rich, delightful and unexpectedly thought-provoking saga.'--Richard Holmes 'The book is a rich tapestry of family narrative in the course of which various intolerances of nation, ethnicity, class and gender are woven into a story that is deft, alive to irony, and alert to many human foibles - it is a work in which intellectual audacity is matched by sound research and textual scruple. The result is a masterpiece of patient, lucid analysis ... a spellbinding family history.' --Declan Kiberd The Irish Times. 'Lyn Innes explores her ancestors' history in moving detail, capturing the tragic story of the dethroned princes of Bengal who had to make their lives in foreign lands, marked forever by the harsh legacy of Empire.' Shrabani Basu, author of Victoria and Abdul: The Extraordinary True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant. 'Lyn Innes tells her extraordinary and engrossing personal family history, revealing the ways in which the British Empire brought lives together, and scattered people apart. The Last Prince of Bengal tells us about the multitude histories we carry within, and the humiliations that race, class and faith perpetuate.' --Salil Tripathi, author of The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and its Unquiet Legacy

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Book SynopsisThis book provides an understanding of the kind of work that representations of African dictatorship do. It explores the contradictions that arise from postcolonial critics' simultaneous investment in aesthetics and in politics.Table of ContentsIntroduction: African Dictators and Postcolonial Critics 1. Two Readings of Henri Lopes's Le Pleurer-rire 2. The Truth about Amin' 3. Achille Mbembe and the Disorder of Discourse 4. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE 2018. Chrissie Docherty returns to the southern Africa of her childhood and tracks down Evelyn Fielding, the woman at the centre of an explosive scandal involving a traditional colonial officer and a gifted black African artist. Together, the two women uncover the secrets that shattered a remote expatriate outpost in the Zambian bush in the 1970s. Switching deftly between today and the recent past, and set against a background of tense post-colonial race relations, political turmoil and witchcraft, `Looking for Evelyn’ powerfully evokes the very special colours, sounds and smells of Africa.Trade Review`If you’re looking for a holiday book to transport you to Southern Africa, this is it.’ Scottish Daily Mail; `A moving, rich read that brings Africa to life.’ Sunday Mirror; `This year’s summer read…’ the National; “You can see, taste and feel the dusty red roads of the South African bush in this rich, evocative exploration of love, jealousy and betrayal in post-colonial Zambia in the 1970s.” – Jackie Copleton; “A haunting and intriguing tale about forbidden love against a backdrop of political turmoil.” Daily Record

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Book SynopsisOver the last seven hundred years the United Kingdom has acquired a staggering array of treasures as a direct result of its military activities – from Joan of Arc’s ring to the Rock of Gibraltar to Hitler’s desk. Spoils of War describes these spoils and how they came to be acquired as well as telling the tales of some of the extraordinary (and extraordinarily incompetent) men and women, now mostly forgotten, who had a hand in the rise and fall of the British Empire. Along the way the book debunks a significant number of myths, exposes a major fraud perpetrated on a leading London museum, reveals previously unknown spoils of war and casts light on some very dark corners of Britain’s military history.Trade Review“Christopher Joll’s original and entertaining book focuses on some of the remarkable spoils of war seized during the age of empire by British soldiers, sailors and airmen. Each of these tangible trophies of victory, ranging from the priceless to the valueless, has a story which Joll recounts, and sometimes debunks, with style, humour and insight.” Michael Portillo (broadcaster and former Secretary of State for Defence)Table of ContentsForeword by the Duke of Wellington. Introduction. THE CAMPAIGNS: 1. Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). 2. English Civil War (1642–1651) . 3. War Of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). 4. Seven Years’ War (1756–1763). 5. American War of Independence (1775–1783). 6. Anglo-French War (1778–1783). 7. French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802). 8. Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–1799). 9. War of the Third Coalition (1805). 10. West Indies Campaign (1804–1810). 11. Peninsular War (1807–1814). 12. Retreat from Moscow (1812). 13. British-American War of 1812 (1812–1815). 14. The 100 Days (1815). 15. First Anglo-Ashanti War (1823–1831). 16. Sindh Campaign (1843). 17. Crimean War (1853–1856). 18. Indian Mutiny (1857–1858). 19. Second Opium War (1856–1860). 20. Abyssinia Expedition (1867–1868). 21. Third Anglo-Ashanti War (1873–1874). 22. Anglo-Zulu War (1879). 23. Urabi Revolt (1879–1882). 24. Mahdist War (1881–1899). 25. Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885). 26. Boxer Rebellion & The Siege of Peking (1889–1901). 27. Second Boer War (1899–1902). 28. First World War (1914–1918). 29. Second World War (1939–1945). 30. Malayan Emergency (1948–1960). 31. Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation (1962–1966). 32. The Troubles, Ulster (1968–1998). 33. Falklands War (1982). About the author. Appendices. 1. Styles, titles, honorifics and regimental names. 2. Principal British campaigns. 3. Prize law, prize money and.prize auctions. 4. Sources and locations. Acknowledgements.

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Book SynopsisSometime in the late fall/early winter of 1962, a document began circulating among members of the Communist Party USA based in the Chicago area, titled "Whither the Party of Lenin." It was signed "The Ad Hoc Committee for Scientific Socialist Line." This was not the work of factionally inclined CP comrades, but rather something springing from the counter-intelligence imagination of the FBI. A Threat of the First Magnitude tells the story of the FBI's fake Maoist organization and the informants they used to penetrate the highest levels of the Communist Party USA, the Black Panther Party, the Revolutionary Union and other groups labelled threats to the internal security of the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. As once again the FBI is thrust into the spotlight of US politics, A Threat of a First Magnitude offers a view of the historic inner-workings of the Bureau's counterintelligence operations - from generating "fake news" and the utilization of "sensitive intelligence methods" to the handling of "reliable sources" - that matches or exceeds the sophistication of any contenders.

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Book SynopsisThere is still a great fascination with the British Empire. Opinions vary widely about Great Britain’s imperial past, and about the extraordinary characters who shaped it and were willing to sacrifice everything for it. This remarkable, engrossing true story tells of two of the British Empire’s most pivotal characters: Sir Frederick Lugard, soldier, explorer, anti-slaver and controversial first Governor-General of Nigeria, and Flora Shaw, the first colonial editor of The Times. The Passionate Imperialists recounts how they met, loved and transformed each other’s lives, and how they fought slavery and through their efforts helped improve the lives of millions of people in Africa. The story starts in India and moves to Afghanistan, Sudan, across Africa, then travels to Hong Kong and concludes with the founding of Nigeria.

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Book SynopsisIn 50 Things About Us, Mark Thomas combines his trademark mix of storytelling, stand-up, mischief and really, really well-researched material to examine how we have come to inhabit this divided wasteland that some of us call the United Kingdom. Based on his latest show, 50 Things About Us, Mark picks through the myths, historical facts and current figures of our national identities to ask: who do we think we are?

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Book SynopsisIn her captivating memoir Through the Leopard's Gaze, Njambi McGrath details the harrowing circumstances of her life as a young girl in Kenya, who one fateful night was beaten to a pulp and left for dead. Thirteen-year-old Njambi, fearing her assailant would return to finish her, courageously escaped, walking through the night in the Kenyan countryside, risking wild animals, robbers and murderers, before being picked up by two shabbily dressed but safe men. She buries the memories of that fateful day and night, and years later ends up in London with a British husband and children. Then one day a simple unassuming wedding invitation arrives in her mailbox causing her to have to confront the remnants of a past she had thought was behind her.This is a book about survival, and courage when all else fails. It's a searingly honest examination of human cruelty and strength in equal measure.Trade ReviewImportant voice * The Times *Deliciously tart lines * Evening Standard *Compelling rarely heard perspective * FESTMAG *Cutting edge confident comedian * FRINGEREVIEW *A must see * The Scotsman *Trail blazing * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisClinton, founder and head of a firm of international engineers, arrives in India to build a dam, bringing with him his young wife, Helen, and a strong team of aides and skilled men. They are faced with a formidable challenge, which involves working in daunting mountain and jungle terrain, within a time schedule dictated by the extreme tropical weather. Setbacks occur which bring into focus fundamental differences in the attitudes to life and death of the British bosses and the Indian workers. A timely reminder of the British contempt for Indian lives and for nature.Trade Review'An absorbing tale about mechanical strength and spiritual weakness, physical certainties and moral doubts. It is set in modern India, but the conflict of values at its heart is universal' John Masters, author, Bhowani Junction

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Book SynopsisAn avowed republican investigates the unexpected durability and potential benefits of constitutional monarchies. When he was deposed in Egypt in 1952, King Farouk predicted that there would be five monarchs left at the end of the century: the kings of hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades, and England. To date, his prediction has proved wrong, and while the twentieth century saw the collapse of monarchies across Europe, many democratic societies have retained them. God Save the Queen is the first book to look at constitutional monarchies globally, and is particularly relevant given the pro-democracy movement in Thailand and recent scandals around the British and Spanish royal families. Is monarchy merely a feudal relic that should be abolished, or does the division between ceremonial and actual power act as a brake on authoritarian politicians? And what is the role of monarchy in the independent countries of the Commonwealth that have retained the Queen as head of state? This book suggests that monarchy deserves neither the adulation of the right nor the dismissal of the left. In an era of autocratic populism, does constitutional monarchy provide some safeguards against the megalomania of political leaders? Is a President Boris potentially more dangerous than a Prime Minister Boris?Trade Review‘At 153 pages God Save the Queen is a quick read, and Altman packs a lot into it, whizzing through the histories and current political climates of an array of countries to gain better understanding of the way monarchies have sustained themselves and evolved. … It’s the ability, in such a relatively brief space of words, to capture the breadth of diversity and nuances of modern monarchy, that makes Altman’s exploration of the phenomenon truly fascinating.’ -- Ben Pobjie * The Australian *‘This very readable little book encourages us to think more about the game of thrones and the different ways it might be played.’ -- Jeff Sparrow * The Age *‘A useful reconnaissance across a very large field of study.’ -- David McIntyre * New Internationalist *‘God Save the Queen is a book which deserves a wide readership.’ -- Bernard Whimpress * The Newtown Review of Books *

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Book Synopsis‘I was born as part of a monstrous structure — the grotesque, hideous, ugly, ghastly, gruesome, horrible relations of power that constituted colonial Britain. A structure that shaped me, that shapes the very language that I speak and use and love. I am the daughter of an empire that declared itself the natural order of the world.’ From award-winning writer and critic Alison Croggon, Monsters takes as its point of departure the painful breakdown of a relationship between two sisters. It explores how our attitudes are shaped by the persisting myths that underpin colonialism and patriarchy, how the structures we are raised within splinter and distort the possibilities of our lives. Monsters asks how we maintain the fictions that we create about ourselves, what we will sacrifice to maintain these fictions — and what we have to gain by confronting them.Trade Review‘A marvel of a book … Croggon spares no one, least of all herself, as she unearths colonial history and family complicity to scrutinise those demons that both torment and shape us. This is exactly the kind of book I have longed to see white authors write, and I love it for its refusal to provide easy answers to the dilemma at the heart of the modern human condition.’ -- Ruby Hamad, author of White Tears/Brown Scars‘Refreshing … admirable.’ -- Josephine Fenton * Irish Examiner *‘Croggon is an autodidact and digs deepest into issues which interest her most. Her writing on femaleness and the patriarchy is excellent and follows her own feminist evolution … This is a unique blend of memoir and critical theory.’ -- Bob Moore * Good Reading *‘Croggon’s background as a poet is tangible, and her language in Monsters is flavoursome … she is witty, self-reflective, raw.’ -- Anna Westbrook * ArtsHub, starred review *‘What makes Monsters distinct, from opening bars to melancholy coda, is the nature of the pain it describes. Not the physical kind which holds at least the potential for relief, but the emotional distress emerging from a breakdown in the author’s relationship with one of her two younger sisters: a connection that has grown increasingly poisonous over time … Monsters becomes the effort to draw a global map of human hurt using the fractal experience of one woman’s domestic discord.’ -- Geordie Williamson * The Weekend Australian *‘Monsters is a hybrid memoir about family, colonialism and how external forces invisibly shape us, by renowned critic and impressive brain Alison Croggon.’ -- Jo Case * InDaily *‘Steady and acute self-scrutiny such as Croggon’s is necessary to a widening interrogation of privilege that underpins the illumination and refusal of racism and sexism and promised a historical pivot away from overt and covert violence … Monsters is full of gloriously expressed insights, such as the image of the internet as ‘a trauma machine, recording and reproducing millions of psychic wounds’ and, on the subject of #MeToo, the way an accumulation of incidents can contribute to a ‘deformation fo self’ … stylistically, the rhythms and sonic patterns of Croggon’s prose are a poet’s.’ -- Felicity Plunkett * The Age *‘Sometimes it is in the gulf between what we value and how we act that we are truly revealed … Croggon cares deeply about this idea, of sitting with complexity … in every scorching appraisal of hierarchy and patriarchy, there is a central thought: there must be some explanation … For Croggon, the legacy of British colonialism is the notion that you can take someone’s story away from them. Monsters fights to reclaim the narrative.’ -- Sarah Walker * Australian Book Review *‘In language at once fiery and elegant, [Croggon] reckons with the collective failures of her imperialist ancestors and the personal shame of their legacy. It’s a book I will return to often for its power and its truths.’ -- Marina Benjamin, author of Insomnia‘The searing opening spares no one, least of all Croggon as she details a toxic relationship with her sister … Woven in and out of all this are other ugly but very differently scaled relationships, from colonialism through which she details her own history, to the patriarchy and how it distorts the way we see even ourselves. Croggon is a talented writer, librettist, playwright and thinker, and her focus here is to understand and, in some ways, reconcile with all this dysfunction.’ -- Penelope Debelle * SA Weekend, starred review *‘Monsters brings up interesting insights on trauma, power relations and the pathology of families.’ -- Alastair Mabbott * The Herald *‘Young Adult author Croggon grapples with both personal and historical demons … [she] asks probing questions about self-perception and trauma … The monsters of the title are plentiful: throughout the essays she addresses her British colonialist ancestors, her abusive mother, the “traumatic tedium” of her relationship to her sister, and herself … Lyrically rendered, this reckoning will leave readers with plenty to think about.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘With Monsters, [Croggon] tackles one of contemporary literature’s most electric (and eclectic) forms — a kind of glorious literary mutant that braids socio-cultural contemplation and memoir; anchoring high-theory with visceral intimacy. She joins a sorority of glittering thinkers … whose work mimics what it feels like to stretch an idea out in your brain. True to type, Monsters is digressive, kaleidoscopic, and alive with questions.’ -- Beejay Silcox * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisIn Photography: Race, Rights & Representation Mark Sealy discusses the critical work photographic images do in culture. Through photography, the book engages with notions of history, alienation, migration, civil and human rights, community and representational politics.

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