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The Last Maasai Warrior
In 1904, the British government promised the Maasai control of their traditional lands - for so long as they shall exist as a people. Seven years later, that promise is broken, and the Maasai must choose between war with a powerful enemy and a perilous trek to the land allocated them by the government. Ole Sadera has risen from village scapegoat to leadership of his people. Now, they look to him for answers, while he struggles with betrayal and rapid change - and his desire for another man's wife. British administrator George Coll arrives in East Africa to face impossible choices of his own. How can he do the job he has been given and stay silent? And how can he ask the woman he loves to share an uncertain future? The Maasai gather to make their historic decision...and an Empire holds its breath.
464 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2008
12 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 22, 2012
A very informative account of the plight of the Masai. Interesting references to the Maori in NZ, the Treaty of Waitangi, and the differences in interpretation of the signing of the Treaty. By 1904, one would have imagined the British would have learnt a lot, but it seems not. Although fiction, this story has historical meaning and relevance to any nation who have indigenous people, the importance of their history being respected and kept in tact.
May 5, 2025
The Last Maasai Warrior is a fascinating historical fiction account of British colonization of Kenya which has many parallels to the invasion of North America by Europeans and the ensuing genocide of Native Americans.
The British, in 1904, yield the Maasai control of their traditional lands in perpetuity. A bare seven years later, the Brits betray this trust and force the Maasai into a near-uninhabitable area of Kenya that lacks sufficient water and grass to support the herds of cattle, sheep, and goats of the pastoral Maasai and doesn't permit their to migration to preserve pasture lands. Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), a parasitic disease transmitted by the tsetse fly, is endemic. In addition, there is a new outbreak of East Coast Fever (ECF), a tick-borne disease in cattle that is usually fatal. In an enforced trek to these new lands, akin to the Native American Trail of Tears, hundreds of Maasai and thousands of their livestock perish.
The hero of the story is Paresloi Ole Sadera, the sole Laikipiak in a village of Purkos. He is a slight man with a strong will. He fulfills the legend of a boy child who is birthed in the waters of a river and holds a small stone in each hand. Ole Sadera rises from being a scapegoat to being the spokesperson and leader of his age group of Maasai warriors. The Maasai soon see the rise of whites as being inevitable and agree to give up their lands. Ole Sadera feels strongly that the Maasai should not give in, should not abandon the very ideals that make them Maasai. He learns English and tries to work within the British legal system to keep Maasai lands, even going to England to pursue the legal case. Helping Ole Sadera in all this is the appointed veterinary inspector, the British administrator George Coll.
Essentially, the Maasai, like so many Native American and New Zealand and Australian aboriginals are sent to reservations. This saga has historical meaning and relevance to any nation who have indigenous people and the importance of respecting and preserving their history.
August 26, 2021
A very good book about the treatment of the Maasai by the British Government in British East Africa.
Frank Coates has done an excellent job of telling the story of the Maasai fight for their land. The British government really have a lot to answer for.
I enjoyed this book very much.
Frank Coates has done an excellent job of telling the story of the Maasai fight for their land. The British government really have a lot to answer for.
I enjoyed this book very much.
January 16, 2026
Very informative of the disputed British rule in the 1900's
October 20, 2011
When baby Ole Sadera was born, his mother birthed him in the sea, and when they rose up from the ocean's shallow surf, he had a stone clenched in each of his tiny newborn fists. For many generations African legend tells the story that at some time in the future, a boy will be born with a stone in his hand, and that he will be the greatest warrior of the land that will save his people from annihilation.
Thus lies this story of the Last Maasai Warrior by Frank Coates. It is the harrowing tale of a lifelong friendship of two warriors who grew up as friends, and grew to be men constantly add odds as to how to lead their people, the Maasai tribe of the Great Rift Valley near Nairobi. As the book opens, Britain is once again arrogantly invading Africa and claiming land as their own. The British government sends emissaries lacking in sympathy to negotiate land deals so that they may turn real estate property into areas of British settlement and fortune for the crown. These shady transactions swindle and mislead the Maasai people, a quiet peaceful tribe, that mistakenly entrust the British to do right by them. This sorrowful tale of deception and corruption from the British towards the Maasai is a eye-opening and disheartening story based on true events that will leave the reader questioning their faith in humanity. Coates fictionalizes this true life occurrence, vividly depicting the long struggle that the Maasai must endure as the British brutally destroy their culture, their heritage, and continually keep shuffling these people from territory to territory as they claim the Maasailand for their own, leaving the tribe without means of survival. Shifting these people to lands without water and without grazing grounds for their coveted herds of cattle, leave the proud Maasai destined for suffering and eradication.
This novel is based on a crisis in Africa's history that took place in the early part of the last century. The book is very well written and evocative of the time and place giving the reader a true account of exactly what occurred and how events unfolded for the Maasai, as they bravely learn to mistrust the British and learn to fight for what has been their own since the beginning of mankind.
I have always been very interested in reading about Africa and have been intrigued by the Maasai for a long time. I felt that while reading this book, the author did well to introduce me to the Maasai people, their culture, and about their silent yet proud personalities. The character of Ole Sadera is someone you are at first unsure of, and that you want to love because he has so much emotion and anger inside of him. He has much pride for his people that are being lied to and misled, so much inner fear that the tribe will be removed from mother earth. You will feel deeply for his pain and his ambivalence as he strives to know who to follow. From the sidelines you will watch him turn to fellow warriors, his elders, a woman he loves that is the wife of another man, and you will cry for him as his people are not of the same mind to fight for the cause he so desperately believes in.
There are other background characters in the book, other British settlers that are on the side of the Maasai and are also fighting along with Ole Sadera. These characters are endearing and are people you will come to love and cheer on as they help Ole with the battle to the end. If you are looking for an African story that is full of action and adventure, you will not find it here. This is rather an emotionally charged moving saga of a bitter feud between two races of people. One hell-bent on bullying and betrayal to attain their greed, another floundering to stand tall and not let their people be erased from history. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and as I turned the last page, became determined to find more books about the Maasai people that I fell in love with while reading The Last Maasai Warrior. Coates is an outstanding author many have not heard of, and finding his other African sagas is high on my wish list of books to buy soon.
Thus lies this story of the Last Maasai Warrior by Frank Coates. It is the harrowing tale of a lifelong friendship of two warriors who grew up as friends, and grew to be men constantly add odds as to how to lead their people, the Maasai tribe of the Great Rift Valley near Nairobi. As the book opens, Britain is once again arrogantly invading Africa and claiming land as their own. The British government sends emissaries lacking in sympathy to negotiate land deals so that they may turn real estate property into areas of British settlement and fortune for the crown. These shady transactions swindle and mislead the Maasai people, a quiet peaceful tribe, that mistakenly entrust the British to do right by them. This sorrowful tale of deception and corruption from the British towards the Maasai is a eye-opening and disheartening story based on true events that will leave the reader questioning their faith in humanity. Coates fictionalizes this true life occurrence, vividly depicting the long struggle that the Maasai must endure as the British brutally destroy their culture, their heritage, and continually keep shuffling these people from territory to territory as they claim the Maasailand for their own, leaving the tribe without means of survival. Shifting these people to lands without water and without grazing grounds for their coveted herds of cattle, leave the proud Maasai destined for suffering and eradication.
This novel is based on a crisis in Africa's history that took place in the early part of the last century. The book is very well written and evocative of the time and place giving the reader a true account of exactly what occurred and how events unfolded for the Maasai, as they bravely learn to mistrust the British and learn to fight for what has been their own since the beginning of mankind.
I have always been very interested in reading about Africa and have been intrigued by the Maasai for a long time. I felt that while reading this book, the author did well to introduce me to the Maasai people, their culture, and about their silent yet proud personalities. The character of Ole Sadera is someone you are at first unsure of, and that you want to love because he has so much emotion and anger inside of him. He has much pride for his people that are being lied to and misled, so much inner fear that the tribe will be removed from mother earth. You will feel deeply for his pain and his ambivalence as he strives to know who to follow. From the sidelines you will watch him turn to fellow warriors, his elders, a woman he loves that is the wife of another man, and you will cry for him as his people are not of the same mind to fight for the cause he so desperately believes in.
There are other background characters in the book, other British settlers that are on the side of the Maasai and are also fighting along with Ole Sadera. These characters are endearing and are people you will come to love and cheer on as they help Ole with the battle to the end. If you are looking for an African story that is full of action and adventure, you will not find it here. This is rather an emotionally charged moving saga of a bitter feud between two races of people. One hell-bent on bullying and betrayal to attain their greed, another floundering to stand tall and not let their people be erased from history. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and as I turned the last page, became determined to find more books about the Maasai people that I fell in love with while reading The Last Maasai Warrior. Coates is an outstanding author many have not heard of, and finding his other African sagas is high on my wish list of books to buy soon.
October 20, 2011
When baby Ole Sadera was born, his mother birthed him in the sea, and when they rose up from the ocean's shallow surf, he had a stone clenched in each of his tiny newborn fists. For many generations African legend tells the story that at some time in the future, a boy will be born with a stone in his hand, and that he will be the greatest warrior of the land that will save his people from annihilation.
Thus lies this story of the Last Maasai Warrior by Frank Coates. It is the harrowing tale of a lifelong friendship of two warriors who grew up as friends, and grew to be men constantly add odds as to how to lead their people, the Maasai tribe of the Great Rift Valley near Nairobi. As the book opens, Britain is once again arrogantly invading Africa and claiming land as their own. The British government sends emissaries lacking in sympathy to negotiate land deals so that they may turn real estate property into areas of British settlement and fortune for the crown. These shady transactions swindle and mislead the Maasai people, a quiet peaceful tribe, that mistakenly entrust the British to do right by them. This sorrowful tale of deception and corruption from the British towards the Maasai is a eye-opening and disheartening story based on true events that will leave the reader questioning their faith in humanity. Coates fictionalizes this true life occurrence, vividly depicting the long struggle that the Maasai must endure as the British brutally destroy their culture, their heritage, and continually keep shuffling these people from territory to territory as they claim the Maasailand for their own, leaving the tribe without means of survival. Shifting these people to lands without water and without grazing grounds for their coveted herds of cattle, leave the proud Maasai destined for suffering and eradication.
This novel is based on a crisis in Africa's history that took place in the early part of the last century. The book is very well written and evocative of the time and place giving the reader a true account of exactly what occurred and how events unfolded for the Maasai, as they bravely learn to mistrust the British and learn to fight for what has been their own since the beginning of mankind.
I have always been very interested in reading about Africa and have been intrigued by the Maasai for a long time. I felt that while reading this book, the author did well to introduce me to the Maasai people, their culture, and about their silent yet proud personalities. The character of Ole Sadera is someone you are at first unsure of, and that you want to love because he has so much emotion and anger inside of him. He has much pride for his people that are being lied to and misled, so much inner fear that the tribe will be removed from mother earth. You will feel deeply for his pain and his ambivalence as he strives to know who to follow. From the sidelines you will watch him turn to fellow warriors, his elders, a woman he loves that is the wife of another man, and you will cry for him as his people are not of the same mind to fight for the cause he so desperately believes in.
There are other background characters in the book, other British settlers that are on the side of the Maasai and are also fighting along with Ole Sadera. These characters are endearing and are people you will come to love and cheer on as they help Ole with the battle to the end. If you are looking for an African story that is full of action and adventure, you will not find it here. This is rather an emotionally charged moving saga of a bitter feud between two races of people. One hell-bent on bullying and betrayal to attain their greed, another floundering to stand tall and not let their people be erased from history. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and as I turned the last page, became determined to find more books about the Maasai people that I fell in love with while reading The Last Maasai Warrior. Coates is an outstanding author many have not heard of, and finding his other African sagas is high on my wish list of books to buy soon.
Thus lies this story of the Last Maasai Warrior by Frank Coates. It is the harrowing tale of a lifelong friendship of two warriors who grew up as friends, and grew to be men constantly add odds as to how to lead their people, the Maasai tribe of the Great Rift Valley near Nairobi. As the book opens, Britain is once again arrogantly invading Africa and claiming land as their own. The British government sends emissaries lacking in sympathy to negotiate land deals so that they may turn real estate property into areas of British settlement and fortune for the crown. These shady transactions swindle and mislead the Maasai people, a quiet peaceful tribe, that mistakenly entrust the British to do right by them. This sorrowful tale of deception and corruption from the British towards the Maasai is a eye-opening and disheartening story based on true events that will leave the reader questioning their faith in humanity. Coates fictionalizes this true life occurrence, vividly depicting the long struggle that the Maasai must endure as the British brutally destroy their culture, their heritage, and continually keep shuffling these people from territory to territory as they claim the Maasailand for their own, leaving the tribe without means of survival. Shifting these people to lands without water and without grazing grounds for their coveted herds of cattle, leave the proud Maasai destined for suffering and eradication.
This novel is based on a crisis in Africa's history that took place in the early part of the last century. The book is very well written and evocative of the time and place giving the reader a true account of exactly what occurred and how events unfolded for the Maasai, as they bravely learn to mistrust the British and learn to fight for what has been their own since the beginning of mankind.
I have always been very interested in reading about Africa and have been intrigued by the Maasai for a long time. I felt that while reading this book, the author did well to introduce me to the Maasai people, their culture, and about their silent yet proud personalities. The character of Ole Sadera is someone you are at first unsure of, and that you want to love because he has so much emotion and anger inside of him. He has much pride for his people that are being lied to and misled, so much inner fear that the tribe will be removed from mother earth. You will feel deeply for his pain and his ambivalence as he strives to know who to follow. From the sidelines you will watch him turn to fellow warriors, his elders, a woman he loves that is the wife of another man, and you will cry for him as his people are not of the same mind to fight for the cause he so desperately believes in.
There are other background characters in the book, other British settlers that are on the side of the Maasai and are also fighting along with Ole Sadera. These characters are endearing and are people you will come to love and cheer on as they help Ole with the battle to the end. If you are looking for an African story that is full of action and adventure, you will not find it here. This is rather an emotionally charged moving saga of a bitter feud between two races of people. One hell-bent on bullying and betrayal to attain their greed, another floundering to stand tall and not let their people be erased from history. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and as I turned the last page, became determined to find more books about the Maasai people that I fell in love with while reading The Last Maasai Warrior. Coates is an outstanding author many have not heard of, and finding his other African sagas is high on my wish list of books to buy soon.
April 24, 2012
The Last Maasai Warrior
Frank Coates manages to make a legal drama into a very readable novel. While its not a particularly fast pasted plot, nor are the characters fleshed out enough to really engage the reader in that respect, it is certainly an interesting read and not at all boring. There are so many little things going on, as it always is with history, and it feels well researched and succinct. A must read for anyone interested in pre-war British East African (or rather Kenyan) history and the conflicting interests between the British white settlers and the Maasai people. Frank Coates obviously spent some time exploring Maasai culture as pieces of it are weaved through the story to add an extra depth to the conflict.
Frank Coates manages to make a legal drama into a very readable novel. While its not a particularly fast pasted plot, nor are the characters fleshed out enough to really engage the reader in that respect, it is certainly an interesting read and not at all boring. There are so many little things going on, as it always is with history, and it feels well researched and succinct. A must read for anyone interested in pre-war British East African (or rather Kenyan) history and the conflicting interests between the British white settlers and the Maasai people. Frank Coates obviously spent some time exploring Maasai culture as pieces of it are weaved through the story to add an extra depth to the conflict.
April 26, 2016
I found this book difficult. It tended to jump between years and events without any warning or description. The links between characters though eventually made obvious became frustrating to start. I had trouble following the general story line until the last few chapters. I'm still not sure I understand the deeper story other than the Maasai and their fight for land that is genuinely theirs. The talk of cattle and stock disease also lost me.
February 8, 2014
When I say read, I tried to read it but could not finish it
October 22, 2012
Good introduction into Kenya, the Maasai and colonialism. Was a little disappointed with the story as some of the characters were just so frustrating, but a good read.
May 16, 2016
This is not normally my kind of book but I have to say I loved it. A huge glorious saga filled with rich characters and the amazing backdrop of Africa. What a fabulous mini-series this would make.
November 4, 2016
A bit laboured and basically sad, almost futile.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews