A History of East Africa by Kenneth Ingham (review)

m•vmws 81 A Historyof EastAfrica.By Yoz•r•z•t•I•OHAM.London:Longrnans, Green& Co. [Toronto: Longmarts Canada Limited].1962.Pp. xiv,456. $3.95ß A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OfthefourEastAfricanterritories fillsa gapinAfrican historiography. Apartfroma shortboo.k by MarshandKingsnorth intended for schools, thishistoryhasnothitherto beenaccessible in a single bookß It is now madesoby Professor Inghamof Makerere College, previously knownfor The Makingof ModernUganda. The colonial history of tropical Africandependencies tends to fall intothree distinctperiods; two of them dramatic-theEuro can invasion and conquest, P and the periodof nationalism andthequick onsetof independence; the other, theintervening period ofadministrative development, relatively unexciting though profoundly important. Muchwaswrittenaboutthe invasion' andconquest, and is nowbeingwrittenaboutthecontemporary developments. Thehumdrum administrativehisto has naturall attractedlessattention,and it is to this that ry Y Professor Ingham makes hischiefori inalcontribution g . It wasa difficulttaskto makea unityof the four distinct histories that are herecombined. Afterthepartition theterritories wenttheirseparate ways. Insofar astheyhada single history after1919,the chiefcommon factorwasBritish colonial poli , or BritishAfrican oli , whichhada widera lication thanto cy p cy pp theEastAfrican dependencies. Thecontemporary forces, too,haveawider theatre to workin. Beforethe partition,onthe otherhand,the Sultanate of Zanzibar wasthefocus of alleast African history, whichfortheearlyperiod hasa natural unity.The difficulty of weldingthesepieces together wasall the greater for Professor Inghambecause he is concerned lesswith underlying forces andthe springs of actionthanwith movements onthe surface. Toooftenwe are told of decisions withoutknowing why theyweremade.Factions in Ugandastruggle for power(p . 372-4) but it is notdear whoconstituted the factions or what ß . P . . ½• . . ,, . . theirspecific ob]ec•ves were. Landconsohdatmn in Kenya•sreferred to (pp. 393-4), andits importance emphasized, but the natureof the operation is ]eft totheimagination. The King'sAfricanRiflesarementioned for thefirsttimein 1914,withoutan explanation of the regiment's originor signi•cance. EightyearsafterJohnston's UgandaAgreement thereis a casual reference to "•aiio owners"; the readeris nottoldthatthiscurious termwasgivento the landwhichwasallottedunder that agreement in unitsmeasured in square miles.The EastA•ricaProtectorate of onechapter becomes theKenyaof the nextwithouta wordof explanation to linkthetwo.In short, theauthor hastriedto •rimhismaterial tohis space b staying onthe surface andomi•in linksfromthechainof e lanation y g xp . But thiscriticism mustnotbe pushed toofar. Allowance beingmadefor its shortcomings, the bookis a usefulintroduction to its subject. The weaknesses mentioned aboveare lessevidentin the earlychapters. The development of theEastAfrican economy, theprosandcons ofindirect rulein Tanganyika, and the detailsof administration-as distinctfrom politics-arewell covered. The book canberecommended asanintroductory survey. ARTHUR •r•.EPPEL-JONES Queen's University ...