“Kakangulu’s story…has been strikingly told before. But on nothing like this scale. Dr. Twaddle’s book has been thirty years in the making, and is as ample an account as is likely to be produced. Indeed as a biography of a nineteenth century African it is all but without peer.”
Anthony Low, Clare Hall, Cambridge, African Affairs
“Twaddle has chosen a very difficult genre…But he handles it with great skill, and has put the historiography of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Uganda on to a quite new footing, commenting incisively and acutely on the nature of Ganda society in the days of his hero’s youth, the tangled power-struggle of 1888-93 and the aims and methods of proto-colonial government.”
Christopher Wrigley, Journal of African History
“Michael Twaddle’s unraveling of what was a thoroughly complicated story is a considerable feat of research, particularly as he has written it in such a way that the reader is not drowned in the complications.”
Robert Ross, Kunerario
This is a history of the early days of Uganda. The account has an African focus because it shows the British takeover through the experiences of an extraordinary leader.
“At this spot in the year 1901 the British flag was first hoisted by Semei Kakanguru, emissary and loyal servant of His Majesty the King. He built here a boma which was for a short time the headquarters of the district. From this beginning came the establishment of peace and the development of orderly progress in this part of Uganda.”
Michael Twaddle was shown this plaque in 1963 by a local government official who said “That man created the Uganda we Ugandans are fighting for today.” And yet the local people had had the plaque removed to a bicycle shed.
How do people regard an African who had an active role in the creation of the imperial state? Was this man “a hero,” “a collaborator,” “a warlord”? The reaction of colonial officials was mixed. One considered him “…in point of general intelligence, progressive ideas and charm of manner…far above all other natives in the Protectorate…” Another dismissed him, along with his companions, as “no better than Masai or Nandi cattle lifters.” And yet another viewed him as “undoubtedly…a partial religious maniac.”
The story of this man is an example of the dilemma for a whole generation of East Africans at the turn of the last century. This book has been compared in its importance to Shepperson’s and Price’s Independent African.
Michael Twaddle teaches politics and history at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London. Hansen and Twaddle are the editors of two renowned books, Uganda Now (1988) and Changing Uganda (1991). More info →
Retail price:
$32.95 ·
Save 20% ($26.36)
Retail price:
$80.00 ·
Save 20% ($64)
US and Canada only
Availability and price vary according to vendor.
Share 
To request instructor exam/desk copies, email Jeff Kallet at kallet@ohio.edu.
To request media review copies, email Laura Andre at andrel@ohio.edu.
Permission to reprint
Permission
to photocopy or include in a course pack
via Copyright Clearance
Center
Paperback
978-0-8214-1059-2
Retail price: $32.95,
S.
Release date: December 1993
320 pages
Rights: Canada, Philippines, and USA
Hardcover
978-0-8214-1058-5
Retail price: $80.00,
S.
Release date: December 1993
320 pages
Rights: Canada, Philippines, and USA
Electronic
978-0-8214-4701-7
Release date: December 1993
320 pages
Rights: USA, Canada, and Philippines
Women, Work & Domestic Virtue in Uganda, 1900–2003
By Grace Bantebya Kyomuhendo and Marjorie Keniston McIntosh
This groundbreaking book by two leading scholars offers a complete historical picture of women and their work in Uganda, tracing developments from precolonial times to the present and into the future. Setting women’s economic activities into a broader political, social, and cultural context, it provides the first general account of their experiences amid the changes that shaped the country.
African History · Women’s Studies · Uganda · African Studies
Changing Uganda
Dilemmas of Structural Adjustment
Edited by Hölger Bernt Hansen and Michael Twaddle
Yoweri Museveni battled to power in 1986. His government has impressed many observers as Uganda’s most innovative since it gained independence from Britain in 1962. The Economist recommended it as a model for other African states struggling to develop their resources in the best interests of their peoples.But where was change to start? At the bottom in building resistance committees, or at the top in tough negotiations with the IMF? How was it to continue?
History | Africa | East · Political Science, Africa · Uganda · African Studies
Controlling Anger
The Anthropology of Gisu Violence
By Suzette Heald
Controlling Anger examines the dilemmas facing rural people who live within the broader context of political instability. Following Uganda’s independence from Britain in 1962, the Bagisu men of Southeastern Uganda developed a reputation for extreme violence.Drawing
Anthropology · African History · Violence in Society · Uganda · African Studies
