The Great Lakes of Africa: Two Thousand Years of History

by Jean-Pierre Chrétien, Scott Straus (Translator)

Although the genocide of 1994 catapulted Rwanda onto the international stage, English-language historical accounts of the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa are still scarce. Drawing on a wide range of sources ― colonial archives, oral tradition, archaeological discoveries, studies in anthropology and linguistics, and his thirty years of scholarship ― Jean-Pierre Chrétien offers a major synthesis of the history of the region, which encompasses Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Eastern Congo, and Western Tanzania, a region still plagued by extremely violent wars.

The Great Lakes of Two Thousand Years of History first retraces the human settlement and the formation of kingdoms around the sources of the Nile, which were “discovered” by European explorers around 1860. Chrétien then describes these kingdoms’ complex social and political organization and analyzes how the colonizers ― German, British, and Belgian ― not only transformed and exploited the existing power structures, but also projected their own racial categories onto them.

Finally, the author shows how the independent states of the postcolonial era, in particular Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda, have been trapped by their colonial and precolonial legacies, and especially by the racial rewriting of the latter by the former. Today, argues Chrétien, the Great Lakes region of Africa is crucial for historical not only because its history is particularly fascinating but also because the tragedies of its present are very much a function of the political manipulations of its past.

Genres: History, Africa, Rwanda, Nonfiction, Uganda, Tanzania, Eastern Africa

504 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2003

About the author

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pi...

Reviews

[Emily Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to rate because it's not an easy or fun read, but it's probably one of the most comprehensive books on the history of this region.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book if you have any interest in the region. However, prehistory is always hard to write well and this book is mostly prehistory. I'm sure the translation does not help. I loved how this book showed me that after two years living in Burundi I had almost no understanding of the culture. I recommed it for those interested in Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi otherwise skip it.

[Kieran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of thousands of years of history in an undercovered region (in English). Dispels a lot of myths about biology and migration and provides a solid understanding of recent conflicts.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book for class - dense. Hard to follow so many moving pieces but interesting

[AskHistorians]

In this work, Chretien synthesizes colonial archives, oral tradition, archaeological digs, and anthropological studies to trace 2000 years of history in the region. Beginning by tracing the history of settlement and the development of kingdoms, he then explains the transformations that occurred during German, Belgian and British colonial regimes, and their relevance to the present situation.

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

have you wondered what kind of food people in rwanda ate in the 1500s? answer: bananas! and yams! This book has the answer to lots more riveting questions, and more funny african names than you can shake a stick at! but you don't have to take MY word for it...

[Andrew]

Chrétien has deep knowledge of the history, but is sometimes not very sympathetic to his reader, occasionally drowning them in references to hundreds of groups and regions that I found hard to follow. But still a useful book.

[Jeremy Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Present from Mum and Dad.
Well written and informative if a bit heavy!