The Life and Times of General China: Mau Mau and the End of Empire in Kenya - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558765972 ISBN 13: 9781558765979

Publisher: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2014

Synopsis

No episode in African history is more controversial than the Mau Mau war, and within it, no figure more polarizing than Waruhiu Itote, or "General China." China led Mau Mau guerrillas in a daring struggle against the British colonial government and its "loyalist" allies in Kenya during the 1950s, but he was spared the gallows because he turned government informant. China was a "collaborator" to his enemies but a Kenyan "hero" to his supporters, who interpreted his change of heart as motivated by a desire to save African lives, and who venerated China's wholehearted service to the independent nation of Kenya after 1963.
 
The Life and Times of General China delves into the mind of this fascinating, complex, and ambiguous character. It brings together a rich collection of sources: an abridged version of China's famous memoir "Mau Mau" General; the typescripts of China's interrogation and trial at British hands; his 1993 eulogy by former district officer John Nottingham; and more. For the first time, readers can analyze the motivations of one of Africa's most enthralling figures--a man who inspired the late Nelson Mandela to say that he was "influenced by the life and example of General China."

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"An important addition to the corpus on Mau Mau, this book will be a wonderful asset in the classroom, and will be welcomed by all those interested in Africa's modern history." --David M. Anderson, Professor of African History, University of Warwick
 
No episode in African history is more controversial than the Mau Mau war, and within it, no figure more polarizing than Waruhiu Itote, or "General China." China led Mau Mau guerrillas in a daring struggle against the British colonial government and its "loyalist" allies in Kenya during the 1950s, but he was spared the gallows because he turned government informant. China was a "collaborator" to his enemies but a Kenyan "hero" to his supporters, who interpreted his change of heart as motivated by a desire to save African lives, and who venerated China's wholehearted service to the independent nation of Kenya after 1963.
 
The Life and Times of General China delves into the mind of this fascinating, complex, and ambiguous character. It brings together a rich collection of sources: an abridged version of China's famous memoir "Mau Mau" General; the typescripts of China's interrogation and trial at British hands; his 1993 eulogy by former district officer John Nottingham; and more. For the first time, readers can analyze the motivations of one of Africa's most enthralling figures--a man who inspired the late Nelson Mandela to say that he was "influenced by the life and example of General China."
 
Myles Osborne is Assistant Professor of African History at the University of Colorado
Boulder. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2008. He is the author of Ethnicity and Empire in Kenya: Loyalty and Martial Race among the Kamba, c. 1800 to the Present (2014) and he has published articles in a variety of journals, including the Journal of African History.

About the Author:

Myles Osborne, Assistant Professor of African History, University of Colorado Boulder, USA

About this edition

• Publisher: Markus Wiener Publishers
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1558765972
• ISBN 13: 9781558765979
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Osborne Myles