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Title: Scramble for Africa... by Thomas Pakenham ISBN: 0-380-71999-1 Publisher: Avon Pub. Date: 01 December, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.33 (15 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: History of Victorian Africa Exploration
Comment: "Scramble for Africa" is a military and diplomatic history of Victorian African exploration.
As a whole, the book is very good. The events are presented in a chronological order, cutting back and forth between the actions and maneuvers of the Great (Britain, France, and Germany) and Minor Powers (primarily Belgium) in different parts of the continent. One very import item making this book so informative is the use of maps. Parkenham has included enough maps to place all the actions. Frequently, histories need a period atlas in hand for reference. This one doesn't.
"Scramble" is about politicians, soldiers, merchants, missionaries, and explorers. Readers interested in the personalities (King Leopold of Begium, Gladstone, Livingston, Ali Pasha, etc.) who shaped the events in the European conquest of Africa and the early Imperialist era will get the most from the book. I personally found King Leopold to be like a spider in the web as he plotted to found the Belgian Congo. In general, Britains and Anglo-Saxons come out rather well in this history and Europeans and Middle Easterners less well.
If I can find fault in "Scramble" its because it is too Anglo-centric. The British historical contribution to the period and events is very detailed. The French less so. The Portogeuse, Spanish, and Italian is almost absent or incidental. For example, British Imperial expeditions are described right down to the participating units (Guards Grenadiers, etc.); while French expeditionary missions described confuse Colonial Marines with Legion units.
Even though this is a military and diplomatic history, the economic aspect of the story is missing. The search for gold I can understand. Buried in the narrative is the importance of the African export of Palm Oil. However, I don't understand the price of or use of the ivory they (Europeans and native Africans) were slaughtering elephants for and hauling out of Africa.
Parkenham's narrative is excellent and highly readable. This book is recommend more as a peek into the personalities of the movers and shakers of Victorian times then as a history of African development.
Rating: 4
Summary: Fascinating account
Comment: Thomas Pakenham's sprawling story of the slicing up of a continent by European powers is fascinating, well-written, well worth your time. It's interesting that surprisingly little of the colonization of Africa between 1876 and 1912 came by direct military conquest. No, England, France and Germany (principally) sank their teeth into the continent mostly in less direct ways that were just as dismaying. "The Scramble for Africa" presents a panorama of villains and heroes, both white and black, but paints it with sufficient shades of gray. Much of what happens is despicable to us today, but Pakenham helps us understand the whys. The book is not perfect. For American eyes, Pakenham assumes too much knowledge of British history and its political system. There are a lot of names to keep track of, and there is an occasional lack of clarity as to what precisely is going on. Pakenham also has a curious habit of not always making clear who is being quoted. Still, this is a strong, well-written, fascinating account of a strange, exciting period in world history.
Rating: 5
Summary: I love this book
Comment: I have not read it all but when I do pick it up it is very hard to put down. This is a subject that most Americans know little about. I consider this 'good history'. Not ideological. And for the most part the action never stops.
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Title: King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild ISBN: 0618001905 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Boer War by Thomas Pakenham ISBN: 0380720019 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 December, 1992 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Africa : A Biography of the Continent by John Reader ISBN: 067973869X Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 07 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Washing of the Spears: A History of the Rise of the Zulu Nation Under Shaka and Its Fall in the Zulu War of 1879 by Donald R. Morris, Mangosuthu Chief Buthelezi ISBN: 0306808668 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo by Michela Wrong ISBN: 0060934433 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 28 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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