The Scramble For Africa

Description

The scramble for Africa astonished everyone. In 1880 most of the continent was still ruled by Africans and barely explored. By 1902, five European Powers had grabbed almost the whole continent, giving themselves 30 new colonies and protectorates and 10 million square miles of land. The inspiration came from the heroic death in 1873 of the missionary-explorer, David Linvingstone. He had exposed the horrors of the slave trade still in progress. His call for Africa to be redeemed by the three "C"s - commerce, Christianity and civilisation - was aimed at the conscience of the civilized world. The response came from rival colonial enthusiasts in Europe. There were journalist-explorers like Henry Stanley, sailor-explorers like Pierre de Brazza (who gave his name to Brazzaville and its beach) and gold and diamond tycoons like Cecil Rhodes. As the race gathered momentum, a fourth "C" - Conquest - became dominant. The Maxim gun, not trade or the cross, became the symbol of the age. In many colonies atrocities were commonplace. This is the history of this episode. The author also wrote "The Boer War". This book is the winner of the W.H. Smith Literary Award.

Thomas Pakenham is the author of THE MOUNTAINS OF RASSELAS, THE YEAR OF LIBERTY and THE BOER WAR. He divides his time between a terraced house I nnNorth Kensington, London and a crumbling castle in Ireland. He is married to the writer Valerie Pakenham and they have four children.

'Magnificent, vigorous, comprehensive, compulsive reading' DAILY TELEGRAPH *'Memorable history on a grand scale . . . brilliant . . . thrilling, fast moving, imaginative, coherent' INDEPENDENT *' A phenomenal achievement . . . clear, authoritative and compelling' William Boyd, DAILY TELEGRAPH *'Grim as well as gripping reading . . . Pakenham writes racily and humorously . . . a magnificent, swash buckling, blood-bolstered epic' OBSERVER