Histories of the Hanged
David Anderson reconstructs the Mau Mau war in Kenya through the records of the trials that sent more than a thousand Kikuyu to the gallows. The book shows the conflict as a civil war among Africans as well as a colonial war, and traces how Britain fought a dirty war on its way out of empire.
Recommended by 1 Person
Adam Foulds
David Anderson’s Histories of the Hanged is a very good detailed historical overview of the Mau Mau uprising. It’s a military history as well as a social history of the conflict. Its name comes from the fact that central to it is his writing about the kangaroo courts that were set up in Kenya, which were possibly no less valid than the military tribunals going on in America.
Interview · February 2010
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