Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
"The Eastern Question": The Occupation of Tunisia and Egypt, 1881-1882
France and Imperialism
Tunisia
Great Britain and Imperialism
Egypt
The Sudan and the Nile
Conclusion
The Congo and the Creation of the Free State, 1882-1885
Belgium and Leopold II
The Brussels Conference and Its Consequences
Europeans in the Congo
The Congo Question, 1882-1884
Germany and Imperialism
The Berlin Conference
The Birth of the Free State
Conclusion
"Cool and Courageous": Germany and Great Britain in East Africa, 1885-1890
The Rise of Zanzibar and British Influence
Germany and East Africa
Great Britain and Germany in East Africa, 1886-1890
The Cape-to-Cairo Dream and the Zanzibar-Heligoland Treaty
Uganda
Epilogue: The French Occupation of Madagascar
Conclusion
Soldiers and Traders: France and Great Britain in West Africa, 1890-1898
France in the Sudan
Britain and the Niger
The Partition: Phase I, 1890-1895
The Partition: Phase II, 1895-1898
Conclusion
The Long March to Fashoda, 1893-1898
The British Nile Strategy
The French Nile Strategy
Italy and Imperialism
The Mission that Failed: The Marchand Mission
Fashoda
Conclusion
Boers and Britons in South Africa, 1890-1902
The Historical Background
Foreigners and Gold Strikes, 1884-1886
Rhodes and Rhodesia, 1890-1893
Rhodes vs. Kruger
Toward the Second Boer War
The Second Boer War, 1899-1902
Conclusion
Epilogue: The Partition of Morocco, 1905-1912
Morocco and Europe
France and Morocco
From Tangier to Agadir
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Appendix 1: Important Treaties and Agreements
Appendix 2: Synchronic Survey
Index of Names

Promotional Information

This book is the most judicious and most evenhanded synthesis of the rich historiography concerning the partition of Africa from the perspective of European imperial historians. Jan Vansina, John D. Mac Arthur and Vilas professor emeritus University of Wisconsin-Madison

About the Author

H.L. WESSELING is Professor of General History in the University of Leiden, Holland, and Director of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS).

Reviews

"This book is the most judicious and most evenhanded synthesis of the rich historiography concerning the partition of Africa from the perspective of European imperial historians. Its special merits are its overall clarity and its guidance to the relevant more specialized works so that it becomes an ideal textbook on the subject. Its brilliance lies in its weaving in of the diplomatic records about all the European players involved, rather than relying on an account derived from one or two major powers....It is this ability to refuse to simplify, to resent complexity, to underline the interplay between the unexpected and the expected, which constitutes the main achievement of this remarkable work, and sets it off from others."-Jan Vansina, John D. Mac Arthur and Vilas professor emeritus University of Wisconsin-Madison

?Stylistically pleasant and based on a sound knowledge of the period, Wesseling's monograph demonstrates that the political makeup of present-day Africa was created by Europeans during the partition.... All levels.?-Choice

?This most recent effort to synthesize the history of Africa's partition is a lively, accessible account for the interested layperson and the serious scholar.?-Publishers Weekly

?Wesseling's style is light, his organization of confusing streams of events is masterful, and his decision to tell the tale through biographical sketches of the prime movers of events is attractive to the general reader.?-International Journal of African History Studies

"Stylistically pleasant and based on a sound knowledge of the period, Wesseling's monograph demonstrates that the political makeup of present-day Africa was created by Europeans during the partition.... All levels."-Choice

"This most recent effort to synthesize the history of Africa's partition is a lively, accessible account for the interested layperson and the serious scholar."-Publishers Weekly

"Wesseling's style is light, his organization of confusing streams of events is masterful, and his decision to tell the tale through biographical sketches of the prime movers of events is attractive to the general reader."-International Journal of African History Studies

"This book is the most judicious and most evenhanded synthesis of the rich historiography concerning the partition of Africa from the perspective of European imperial historians. Its special merits are its overall clarity and its guidance to the relevant more specialized works so that it becomes an ideal textbook on the subject. Its brilliance lies in its weaving in of the diplomatic records about all the European players involved, rather than relying on an account derived from one or two major powers....It is this ability to refuse to simplify, to resent complexity, to underline the interplay between the unexpected and the expected, which constitutes the main achievement of this remarkable work, and sets it off from others."-Jan Vansina, John D. Mac Arthur and Vilas professor emeritus University of Wisconsin-Madison
?Stylistically pleasant and based on a sound knowledge of the period, Wesseling's monograph demonstrates that the political makeup of present-day Africa was created by Europeans during the partition.... All levels.?-Choice
?This most recent effort to synthesize the history of Africa's partition is a lively, accessible account for the interested layperson and the serious scholar.?-Publishers Weekly
?Wesseling's style is light, his organization of confusing streams of events is masterful, and his decision to tell the tale through biographical sketches of the prime movers of events is attractive to the general reader.?-International Journal of African History Studies
"Stylistically pleasant and based on a sound knowledge of the period, Wesseling's monograph demonstrates that the political makeup of present-day Africa was created by Europeans during the partition.... All levels."-Choice
"This most recent effort to synthesize the history of Africa's partition is a lively, accessible account for the interested layperson and the serious scholar."-Publishers Weekly
"Wesseling's style is light, his organization of confusing streams of events is masterful, and his decision to tell the tale through biographical sketches of the prime movers of events is attractive to the general reader."-International Journal of African History Studies

This translation of a 1991 Dutch book emphasizes the role played by the evil, daring souls whose lust for adventure led them to sacrifice life and limb during the partition of Africa. That senseless exercise of bluff and guile, fueled by the political rivalries of Europe, was hard to stop. France, while claiming to be "civilizing," used military tactics to gain control. England claimed "free trade" with chartered company rule on the coast to grab the interior. "Rights" based on treaties with illiterate, even dead, rulers cast a tragicomical pall over colonizers' activities. Although Wesseling's book covers the same territory as Thomas Pakenham's The Scramble for Africa (Random House, 1991), his treatment is different. These books are scholarly and entertaining, so large public and academic libraries might want both. However, Pakenham's is twice as long yet costs less in the hardcover edition.‘Louise F. Leonard, Univ. of Florida Libs., Gainesville