The Scramble for Africa

In a single generation, between 1880 and 1914, the map of Africa was redrawn. A continent that had been largely independent was partitioned by seven European powers — Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Spain — into more than 30 colonies. Thomas Pakenham’s comprehensive history of this extraordinary event is both a triumph of research and a work of gripping narrative history. Based on first-hand accounts, official documents, and explorers’ journals, The Scramble for Africa tells the story through the eyes of the men and women who lived it — soldiers, missionaries, explorers, and the Africans themselves. An indispensable work.