Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya

Publication Date

10-10-2007

Abstract

Elkins discussed how even though thousands of Kenyans fought alongside the British in World War II, just a few years after the defeat of Hitler, the British colonial government detained nearly the entire population of Kenya's largest ethnic minority, the Kikuyusome—1.5 million people. The compelling story of the prisons and work camps where thousands died was the victim of a determined effort by the British to destroy all official records of their attempts to stop the Mau Mau uprising. Elkins spent a decade in London, Nairobi, and the Kenyan countryside interviewing survivors and perpetrators. The result is an unforgettable account of the unraveling of the British colonial empire in Kenya.

Elkins is the Hugo K. Foster Professor of African Studies at Harvard University. She has won many awards including Fulbright, Andrew M. Mellon, and Knox Fellowships, and has been profiled in leading newspapers and magazines, as well as on National Public Radio and BBC World. Elkins and her research were also the subjects of the BBC documentary "Kenya: White Terror." The controversial film attracted nearly 1.5 million viewers when it first aired in November 2002 and won the International Red Cross Award at the Monte Carlo Film Festival.

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