Max Esser was an adventurous young merchant banker, a Rhinelander, who became the first managing director of the largest German plantation company in Cameroon. This volume gives a vivid account of the antecedents and early stages as experienced and described by Esser. In 1896 he ventured, with the explorer Zintgraff, into the hinterland to seek the agreement of Zintgraff's old ally, the ruler of Bali, for the provision of laborers for his projected enterprise. The consequences, many optimistically unforeseen, are illustrated with the help of contemporary materials. Esser's account is preceded by a look at his and his family's connections, added to by an account of newspaper campaigns against him, and completed by an examination of his Cameroon collection, which he gave to the Linden Museum in Stuttgart.

This book contributes to the discourse on post-colonial and globalization theories, focusing on Nigeria's transition to a federal system of government. The project analyzes 10 years of civil rule in Nigeria, between 1999 and 2009, and its constitutional arrangements while also engaging in comparative studies of other socio-political developments in Sub-Saharan Africa. The collective influences of the judiciary on the polity was improved and strengthened through globalization. In addition, organized pressure groups, non-governmental organizations, as well as the Civil Society Organization, have played significant roles as vehicles of socio-political change and transformation. They continue to act as buffers for the sustenance of democratic rule, well beyond the period in question.

Burning the veil draws upon sources from newly-opened archives, exploring the 'emancipation' of Muslim women from the veil, seclusion and perceived male oppression during the Algerian War of decolonisation. The claimed French liberation was contradicted by the violence inflicted on women through rape, torture and destruction of villages. This book examines the roots of this contradiction in the theory of 'revolutionary warfare', and the attempt to defeat the National Liberation Front by penetrating the Muslim family, seen as a bastion of resistance. Striking parallels with contemporary Afghanistan and Iraq, French 'emancipation' produced a backlash that led to deterioration in the social and political position of Muslim women. This analysis of how and why attempts to Westernise Muslim women ended in catastrophe has contemporary relevance and will be important to students and academics engaged in the study of French and colonial history, feminism and contemporary Islam. -- .

Why did the British win the Anglo-Boer War? Although there is truth in the simple statement that they were much stronger than the Boers, it does not explain everything. Therefore, the main focus of this book is to analyse the most important strategic and operational decisions made on both sides, and to measure them according to accepted modern military theory. It is shown that both the British and Boer war efforts were very haphazard at the beginning, but that both learnt as the war went on. In the end, the British got the Boers in a vice from which they could not escape.

Possidius, the bishop of Calama, was a life-long friend of St. Augustine's and best known for writing a biography of the bishop of Hippo, the Vita Augustini. Hermanowicz analyzes both the biography and the legally-oriented career of Possidius to illustrate how active Augustine's colleagues were in soliciting imperial support against their religious competitors and to show just how often Augustine's close friends disagreed with him on important matters of law, coercion and diplomacy. It is still widely asserted by scholars that St. Augustine dominated the theological landscape of North Africa, but this engaging study demonstrates how often he was, in fact, singular and isolated in his beliefs.

The role of Islam in the modern state and the interpretation and implementation of Shari'a law are widely debated. The concept of Liberalism, as taken from the ideological writings of Ahmad Amin (1886-1954) and Husayn Amin (1932-), offers a unique view on the development and reception of these issues in 20th century Egyptian thought. Makoto Mizutani here assesses the roles and contributions of these influential thinkers, and shows how together they can be seen as representative of the 'journey of liberalism' in the contemporary Arab world. Through their writings, the change in their respective times can be seen, thus presenting a paradigm shift: Ahmad Amin's Arab-Islamic perspective from the beginning of the 20th century and Husayn Amin's one nation perspective which emerged in the latter half of the century. Against the backdrop of recent developments in the region, the author places Liberalism against a broader socio-political context, and offers an original perspective - that in understanding the intellectual origins of Liberalism in Egypt, an insight can be gained into the future of contemporary Islamic thought, both within and outside the Arab world. Drawing on historical Arabic source materials and contemporary articles, the author analyses the ideological roots of the struggle towards Arab democratization and argues that, although recent movements appear innovative at first, they really derive from a century-old framework of Arab Islamic political notions and traditions. This book will prove essential reading for students and specialists of Middle Eastern history and politics, and especially to readers grappling to understand the elements of current upheavals in the region.

The Needs of Others is set in the UN in 1994, where diplomats learn of violence in Rwanda. Representing UN ambassadors, human rights organisations, journalists and public opinion leaders, students wrestle with difficult questions based on an unsteady trickle of information: Should the UN peacekeeping mission be withdrawn or strengthened? Is the fighting in Rwanda a civil war or something else? Does the UN have an obligation to intervene?

This edited volume provides the first fully comprehensive evaluation of Libya since the Qadhafi coup in 1969. Throughout the different chapters the authors explore the rise of the military in Libya, the impact of its self-styled revolution on Libyan society and economy.

The political, social, and economic problems of southern Africa cannot be resolved until nations of this critical region effect educational reform. But this process requires more than change in the educational system; it involves the thrust for social transformation in national institutions. This unique study addresses key issues relative to both educational reform and social change in southern Africa. Topics discussed include the need for educational reform; approaches to educational reform; and the results of such reform on the individual and society. A bibliography and an index complete the text.

This text analyses the political and ethnical tensions that characterize Nigeria, which derive both from colonial and contemporary conflicts. It points out three major factors why Nigeria has not yet collapsed like many other African states: ethnic power sharing amongst the political elite, the military with its national outlook, and oil wealth.

Uncertain Safari deals with the contours and complexities of African life today. Based on author Allan Winkler's personal experiences living and working in Kenya and traveling to many other parts of the continent, the book focuses primarily on East Africa and concentrates on Kenya in particular. It examines one of the most beautiful, and troubled, parts of Africa through a personal lens, highlighting issues of marriage and divorce, education and AIDS, politics, and evolving traditions. The African story warrants our attention. An examination of Kenya, one of the best-known and most-visited African countries, provides an effective means of exploring issues that affect all Africans. Kenya, traditionally more stable than other African nations, now faces many grave problems as its own stability has begun to erode. This book, based on observations, interviews, and personal reflections, highlights the serious issues behind the seemingly idyllic view millions of visitors witness on safari.

The two main arguments in the book are to contest the reduction of African civil wars to ethnic conflicts, and to point out the emergence of civil wars as the result of political struggles. The construction of Africa as the "other" has entailed that factors commonly used to explain war elsewhere have been neglected in Sub-Saharan Africa. The book aims at bringing the political power struggle as it evolves around the state to the forefront in analyses of civil wars and societal conflict.

This book tells the story of Kwame Nkrumah, the first post-colonial president of an independent African country. The book utilizes previously unpublished and recently declassified IS State Department documents to give an analysis and a chronology of Nkrumah's fall. The book is written for a general audience and for academic historians and students.

The coming of colonialism to Subsaharan Africa generated many forces that historians often describe in abstract terms: peasantization, leadership, nationalism and even colonialism. Such terms often hide or overwhelm the individual experiences of those who, in some way, contributed to the development and demise of colonial Africa. These 'agents' of empire - intellectuals and peasants, chiefs and ex-slaves, nationalists and colonial officials - symbolise the ambiguities of and limitations on colonial power. Agency and Action in Colonial Africa attempts to capture their role.

The only comprehensive encyclopedia on the Boer War available, this volume offers A-Z entries on the war's origins, military strategy and tactics, main battles and sieges, major political and military figures, weaponry, and other related topics. Comprehensive introduction Maps Chronology, bibliography, and illustrations

The Sixties were a heady time for Africans. All over the continent colonial flags were being lowered and Africans looked forward to freedom and a glittering future. But for most of the continent the last forty years have been a shattering experience. Since independence Africans have been terribly betrayed by the Europeans, the superpowers, and tragically, by their own leaders.

Can a new generation of leaders turn the tide? Will they learn from their predecessors' mistakes and fuel a new African renaissance? Or is Africa doomed to further decades of turmoil?

In this witty and informative book, Alec Russell answers these questions by telling the stories of his encounters with Africa's Big Men. Each one represents a theme which has shaped the continent: Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, the "King of Kleptocracy" whose staggering corruption crippled Zaire; Jonas Savimbi, the life-long guerrilla and symbol of the Cold War's destructive legacy on the continent; the quixotic Hastings Banda, the ultimate product of colonialism; and, of course, Nelson Mandela, symbol of reconciliation and hope for an entire continent.

By any measure, this has been a terrible century for Africa. However Russell detects signs of hope in the fledgling human rights troupe he encounters deep in the steamy heart of the Congolese jungle and in the group of journalists keeping Moi's tottering regime in Kenya on its toes.

Big Men, Little People is a vividly written portrait of a continent, which avoids the usual stereotypes and dire prophecies and entertains from start to finish.

This book mediates a dialectics between power and subjectivity versus history and politics. The invention of Africa is not merely a residue of Africa's encounter with Europe but a project in continuity in contemporary history of Africa, where history has become a location of struggle and meaning, a location of power and domination. Eze contends that postcolonial African studies that thrive by way of unanimity, analogy, or homogenenity are merely advancing a "defeatist" historicism. It attempts to gain essence by inverting the terms of colonial discourse and is decisively implicated in the very logic of coloniality. This method of historiography not only stifles the overall socio-political imagination of contemporary Africa but offers a dogmatic blueprint for politics of domination. Eze argues that a chance for an African Renaissance is dependent on review mechanisms of African historiography

Cape Town's iconic Table Mountain and the surrounding peninsula has been a crucible for attempts to integrate the social and ecological dimensions of wild fire. This environmental history of humans and wildfire outlines these interactions from the practices of Khoikhoi herders to the conflagrations of January 2000. The region's unique, famously diverse fynbos vegetation has been transformed since European colonial settlement, through urbanisation and biological modifications, both intentional (forestry) and unintentional (biological invasions). In all the diverse visions people have formed for Table Mountain, aesthetic and utilitarian, fire has been regarded as a central problem. This book shows how scientific understandings of fire in fynbos developed slowly in the face of strong prejudices. Human impacts were intensified in the twentieth century, which provides the temporal focus for the book. The disjunctures between popular perception, expert knowledge, policy and management are explored, and the book supplements existing short-term scientific data with proxies on fire incidence trends recovered from historical records.

Bringing together a distinguished cast of contributors, this book provides an authoritative and definitive analysis of the theory, practice, and development impact of corruption in Africa. The book offers a wide range of country case studies outlining the deleterious effects of corruption, the factors which have combined to hamper past efforts to combat it, and the required future solutions and the context of their application in Africa. Combating corruption is demonstrated to require greater priority in the quest for African development.

The war in the Western Sahara recently entered its sixteenth year. Although progress toward peace has been made, concrete steps to a final resolution have not yet occurred. This has had serious political, social, economic, and military consequences for the countries in the region. Despite the significance of the issue, until now very few scholarly works have dealt with the regional and international dimensions of the conflict. In particular, little attention has been paid to the role of the superpowers and of the United Nations in the region and to the other related issues which are the focus of this book.

The Western Sahara conflict raises serious questions about the role of international law and of the United Nations in achieving the decolonization of former colonial territories and resolving regional conflicts. Taken together, the work of the scholars, diplomats, and experts in international law who have contributed to this volume constitutes a significant contribution to our understanding of the role of outside powers in the origins and evolution of the war in the Western Sahara. Their work also casts new light on the efforts of the Maghrebi states to overcome regional divisions by themselves and on the continuing attempts by the United Nations to resolve the conflict in the Western Sahara and restore respect for international law. This work will interest specialists West African affairs and in international law and organizations.

South Africa's history stretches back to the beginnings of human existence. This book provides an overview to South Africa's multiple millennia of history, covering its long and often troubled past to its current status in the 21st century. A newly revised and thoroughly updated version of a popular Greenwood publication, The History of South Africa: Second Edition provides readers with readable, accessible information on the nation's prehistory, early history and colonial past, its unfortunate apartheid era, as well as new coverage of South Africa's more recent events in the 20th and 21st centuries. This work presents unique, extended coverage of South Africa's prehistory, beginning 3.5 million years ago and incorporating information gleaned from the most recent archaeological finds. The text reflects the most current historiography on African settlement and life before the arrival of Europeans, accurately describes the colonial era as a period of European hegemony and intense African resistance, and discusses in great detail the apartheid years and the events leading up to majority rule in 1994. This second edition also includes an updated timeline, new biographical sketches of notable people, and supplies recent print and electronic resources in the bibliography. Provides an easily accessible and highly readable general introduction to the history of South Africa that includes extensive coverage of its prehistory and early history Supplies a detailed examination of the last years of apartheid and the events leading up to majority rule in 1994 Includes an extensive discussion of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and its effect on the country

The author synthesises the findings of extensive research into the history of African societies in South Africa. Professor Maylam is head of the Department of History, Rhodes University.