The Great Lakes of Africa: Two Thousand Years of History by Jean-Pierre Chr?tien

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The first English-language publication of a major history of the Great Lakes region of Africa.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

The first English-language publication of a major history of the Great Lakes region of Africa.Though the genocide of 1994 catapulted Rwanda onto the international stage, English-language historical accounts of the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa-which encompasses Burundi, eastern Congo, Rwanda, western Tanzania, and Uganda-are scarce. Drawing on colonial archives, oral tradition, archeological discoveries, anthropologic and linguistic studies, and his thirty years of scholarship, Jean-Pierre Chretien offers a major synthesis of the history of the region, one still plagued by extremely violent wars. This translation brings the work of a leading French historian to an English-speaking audience for the first time. Chretien retraces the human settlement and the formation of kingdoms around the sources of the Nile, which were "discovered" by European explorers around 1860. He describes these kingdoms' complex social and political organization and analyzes how German, British, and Belgian colonizers not only transformed and exploited the existing power structures, but also projected their own racial categories onto them. Finally, he shows how the independent states of the postcolonial era, in particular Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda, have been trapped by their colonial and precolonial legacies, especially by the racial rewriting of the latter by the former. Today, argues Chretien, the Great Lakes of Africa is a crucial region for historical research-not only because its history is fascinating but also because the tragedies of its present are very much a function of the political manipulations of its past.

Author Biography

Jean-Pierre Chrétien is Directeur de Recherches at the Centre Nationale de Recherches Scientifique and affiliated with the Centre de Recherches Africaines at the University of Paris. Scott Straus is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of several books on Africa and violence, including The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda, and is the translator of Jean-Pierre Chretien's The Great Lakes of Africa: Two Thousand Years of History. Formerly a Nairobi-based journalist, he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his 1996 reporting on the war in Congo.

Review

Chretien brings three decades of scholarship and corresponding expertise to this comprehensive history... * Publishers Weekly *...anyone with an ancient interest in African affairs will benefit from this analysis. * Kirkus Reviews *A feast of information and analysis. -- Gail M. Gerhart * Foreign Affairs *Africa enthusiasts will appreciate the maps of the Great Lakes... -- Mary H. Meier * Boston Globe *Chretien has undertaken the formidable task of tracing the roots of the region's violence... -- John Shattuck * The New York Times *

Long Description

Though the genocide of 1994 catapulted Rwanda onto the international stage, English-language historical accounts of the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa--which encompasses Burundi, eastern Congo, Rwanda, western Tanzania, and Uganda--are scarce. Drawing on colonial archives, oral tradition, archeological discoveries, anthropologic and linguistic studies, and his thirty years of scholarship, Jean-Pierre Chretien offers a major synthesis of the history of the region, one still plagued by extremely violent wars. This translation brings the work of a leading French historian to an English-speaking audience for the first time. Chretien retraces the human settlement and the formation of kingdoms around the sources of the Nile, which were "discovered" by European explorers around 1860. He describes these kingdoms' complex social and political organization and analyzes how German, British, and Belgian colonizers not only transformed and exploited the existing power structures, but also projected their own racial categories onto them. Finally, he shows how the independent states of the postcolonial era, in particular Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda, have been trapped by their colonial and precolonial legacies, especially by the racial rewriting of the latter by the former. Today, argues Chretien, the Great Lakes of Africa is a crucial region for historical research--not only because its history is fascinating but also because the tragedies of its present are very much a function of the political manipulations of its past.

Review Text

"Chretien has undertaken the formidable task of tracing the roots of the region's violence..." - John Shattuck, The New York Times

Review Quote

"This comprehensive history...fills an enormous gap in the historical record with elegance and dispassionate firmness." -- "Publishers Weekly" - The Year in Books 2003

Promotional "Headline"

"Chretien has undertaken the formidable task of tracing the roots of the region's violence..." -- John Shattuck, The New York Times

Details ISBN1890951358 Short Title GRT LAKES OF AFRICA Language English Translator Scott Straus ISBN-10 1890951358 ISBN-13 9781890951351 Media Book Format Paperback DEWEY 967.6 Year 2006 Subtitle Two Thousand Years of History Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Imprint Zone Books Translated from French Audience Age 18 DOI 10.1604/9781890951351 UK Release Date 2006-09-22 NZ Release Date 2006-09-22 US Release Date 2006-09-22 Series The Great Lakes of Africa Illustrations 7 maps Author Scott Straus Pages 504 Publisher Zone Books Publication Date 2006-09-22 Alternative 9781890951344 Audience Professional & Vocational AU Release Date 2006-11-29 We've got this

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