The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya
By Caroline Elkins
Fifty years ago British colonialism tried to crush the
independence struggle in Kenya. Tens of thousands of Africans
were imprisoned and killed with the U.S. government's
support. The media slandered Kenya's Land and Freedom Army,
commonly known as the Mau Mau.
The product of ten years of research,Imperial Reckoning
vividly describes how as many as 320,000 Mau Mau suspects were
tortured in more than 50 concentration camps. Virtually the
entire Kikuyu people, 1.5 million, were imprisoned in
"protected villages." Harrowing accounts of life behind
the barb wire are given by survivors in this book.
Elkins, a Harvard history professor, along with Kenya
archivist Terry Wairimu, interviewed 300 former detainees and
villagers. Their testimony tells the courage of those who refused
to submit to the occupier.
Historical photos, Notes, Bibliography and Index
Henry Holt, 2005, Softcover, 367pp
