Economic and Social Origins of Mau Mau

Abstract

This story of Kenya in the decade before the outbreak of the Mau Mau emergency presents an integrated view of imperial government as well as examining the social and economic causes of the Kikuyu revolt. The author combines traditional imperial history with its emphasis on the high politics of 'the official mind' in the Colonial Office or Government House with an African historiography which concentrates on the people themselves. Under Kenyatta's leadership the Kenya African Union mobilised a popular constiuency among the peasantry. In Nairobi the Kikuyu street gangs linked up with militant trade unionists to challenge Kenyatta's leadership. The revolt which emerged was a dominant factor in convincing the conservative imperial government that the cost of repression in the African colonies was too high in troops, money and resources. North America: Ohio U Press; Kenya: EAEP