What We Are Reading Today: ‘The African Revolution’

Photo/Supplied
Photo/Supplied
Short Url
Updated 03 April 2025
Follow

What We Are Reading Today: ‘The African Revolution’

Photo/Supplied
  • The African Revolution demonstrates that “the Scramble” and the resulting imperial order were as much the culmination of African revolutionary dynamics as they were of European expansionism

Author: RICHARD REID

Africa’s long 19th century was a time of revolutionary ferment and cultural innovation for the continent’s states, societies, and economies.

Yet the period preceding what became known as “the Scramble for Africa” by European powers in the decades leading up to World War I has long been neglected in favor of a Western narrative of colonial rule.

The African Revolution demonstrates that “the Scramble” and the resulting imperial order were as much the culmination of African revolutionary dynamics as they were of European expansionism.