The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912 [Hardcover]

Thomas Pakenham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 19, 1991

In 1880 the continent of Africa was largely unexplored by Europeans. Less than thirty years later, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained unconquered by them. The rest - 10 million square miles with 110 million bewildered new subjects - had been carved up by five European powers (and one extraordinary individual) in the name of Commerce, Christianity, 'Civilization' and Conquest. The Scramble for Africa is the first full-scale study of that extraordinary episode in history.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In scarcely half a generation during the late 1800s, six European powers sliced up Africa like a cake. The pieces went to Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Belgium; among them, they acquired 30 new colonies and 110 million subjects. Although African rulers resisted, many battles were one-sided massacres. In 1904 the Hereros, a tribe of southwest southwest, if not a country name Africa, revolted against German rule. Their punishment was genocide--24,000 driven into the desert to starve; those who surrendered were sent to forced labor camps to be worked to death. In a dramatic, gripping chronicle, Pakenham ( The Boer War ) floodlights the "dark continent" and its systematic rape by Europe. At center stage are a motley band of explorers, politicians, evangelists, mercenaries, journalists and tycoons blinded by romantic nationalism or caught up in the scramble for loot, markets and slaves. In an epilogue Pakenham tells how the former colonial powers still dominate the economies of the African nations, most of which are under one-party or dictatorial rule. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In his excellent study of the Boer War ( The Boer War , LJ 11/1/79), Pakenham demonstrated his ability to handle a great mass of material and a complicated subject in a fashion that produces a readable, highly credible account. Here he turns those same skills to good effect in the infinitely more complex issue of the European exploitation of Africa, which followed close on the heels of exploration of the so-called "dark continent's" interior. The result is a sweeping narrative, refreshingly old fashioned in its appreciation of the fact that imperialism did have some virtues, which offers as good an introduction to the "scramble" as has ever been written. Essential for both public and academic libraries.
- Jim Casada, Winthrop Coll., Rock Hill, S.C.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 738 pages
• Publisher: Random House (November 19, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394515765
• ISBN-13: 978-0394515762
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History of Victorian Africa Exploration, March 21, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876-1912 (Paperback)

"Scramble for Africa" is a military and diplomatic history of Victorian African exploration.

As a whole, the book is very good. The events are presented in a chronological order, cutting back and forth between the actions and maneuvers of the Great (Britain, France, and Germany) and Minor Powers (primarily Belgium) in different parts of the continent. One very import item making this book so informative is the use of maps. Parkenham has included enough maps to place all the actions. Frequently, histories need a period atlas in hand for reference. This one doesn't.

"Scramble" is about politicians, soldiers, merchants, missionaries, and explorers. Readers interested in the personalities (King Leopold of Begium, Gladstone, Livingston, Ali Pasha, etc.) who shaped the events in the European conquest of Africa and the early Imperialist era will get the most from the book. I personally found King Leopold to be like a spider in the web as he plotted to found the Belgian Congo. In general, Britains and Anglo-Saxons come out rather well in this history and Europeans and Middle Easterners less well.

If I can find fault in "Scramble" its because it is too Anglo-centric. The British historical contribution to the period and events is very detailed. The French less so. The Portogeuse, Spanish, and Italian is almost absent or incidental. For example, British Imperial expeditions are described right down to the participating units (Guards Grenadiers, etc.); while French expeditionary missions described confuse Colonial Marines with Legion units.

Even though this is a military and diplomatic history, the economic aspect of the story is missing. The search for gold I can understand. Buried in the narrative is the importance of the African export of Palm Oil. However, I don't understand the price of or use of the ivory they (Europeans and native Africans) were slaughtering elephants for and hauling out of Africa.

Parkenham's narrative is excellent and highly readable. This book is recommend more as a peek into the personalities of the movers and shakers of Victorian times then as a history of African development.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dark Continent's Darkest Chapter, January 3, 2007

By 

T. J. Graczewski "tgraczewski" (Burlingame, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876-1912 (Paperback)

It would be an understatement to write that Thomas Pakenham embraced an ambitious project in crafting a comprehensive, single-volume history of the European colonization of Africa over the course of some four decades a century ago. Few authors could have succeeded after having bitten off so much. Fewer still could have made it accessible to the layman and an immensely enjoyable read at that. Pakenham is the rare talent able to pull off such a feat.

The story Pakenham tells involves countless actors, but at the center of the great conquest from beginning to end is the Belgian King Leopold, whose imperial actions, clothed in the righteous language of development and humanitarianism, did more than anyone else to spur on the exploration and exploitation of Africa. As Pakenham describes him, "Leopold was a Coburg millionaire, a constitutional monarch malgre lui, a throwback from the age of absolutism, with the brain of a Wall Street financier and the hide of an African rhinoceros." From his ostentatious palace at Laeken, Leopold kept a close eye on developments in the exploration of Africa and saw in it his great opportunity to make a fortune, all in the name of the "3 Cs": Christianity, Commerce, and Civilization.

The "3 Cs" served as the foundation for most European imperialist of the time - Henry Stanley, his rival Pierre Brazza, Sir George Goldie, Frederick Lugard and others. A twenty-first century cynic could argue that the European intervention in Africa was motivated by capitalist greed, pure and simple. But Pakenham argues that a genuine desire to help the continent develop through the guiding light of Christianity was a central and perhaps the most important motivating factor in the decision to engage in African adventures by key elements in London, Paris and elsewhere. That said, commerce provided the extra pull that made large-scale action inevitable. After the early reports from Livingstone, himself a genuine and sincere Christian humanitarian, Africa captured the fascination of Europe with the potential of untold riches in this last unexplored frontier on earth. Indeed, the early years of "the Scramble" resembled a stock market bubble as investors rushed in motivated primarily by the fear of losing out by dithering on the sidelines.

One of the more surprising aspects of European colonialism in Africa, especially the British in the early years of the Scramble, is how much they conquered with such little direct government investment. London frequently leveraged private enterprise to do the heavy lifting on the ground and direct foreign investment to develop the local infrastructure. Companies were given charters by London and had the exclusive right to make their fortunes under the protective flag of the British Empire. The most notable examples were Sir George Goldie's Royal Niger Company that exploited the trade in modern day Nigeria and Cecil Rhodes' various enterprises mining diamonds and gold in the republics of South Africa.

The difficult part about Pakenham's "Scramble" is that there are so many actors over so many decades operating on so many fronts that it is a challenge to keep everything straight - Isandlwana, Adowa, Majuba, Khartoum, Fashoda, Omdurman, etc. But Pakenham's prose is so engaging that the reader becomes absorbed and presses on.

In sum, "The Scramble for Africa" is a delightful read and a great overview of an unprecedented exercise in foreign domination and exploitation, the legacy of which we very much live with today. Much of the material is presented at a high level. For instance, Pakenham has also authored an authoritative 500-page history of the Boer War, an event that is covered in "The Scramble" in a mere 25-page chapter late in the book. So those with an interest in specific episodes of African colonialism will be better served with more focused works, but no other book will piece all the parts together so well.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating account, May 11, 2001

By 

Tim Weber (Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876-1912 (Paperback)

Thomas Pakenham's sprawling story of the slicing up of a continent by European powers is fascinating, well-written, well worth your time. It's interesting that surprisingly little of the colonization of Africa between 1876 and 1912 came by direct military conquest. No, England, France and Germany (principally) sank their teeth into the continent mostly in less direct ways that were just as dismaying. "The Scramble for Africa" presents a panorama of villains and heroes, both white and black, but paints it with sufficient shades of gray. Much of what happens is despicable to us today, but Pakenham helps us understand the whys. The book is not perfect. For American eyes, Pakenham assumes too much knowledge of British history and its political system. There are a lot of names to keep track of, and there is an occasional lack of clarity as to what precisely is going on. Pakenham also has a curious habit of not always making clear who is being quoted. Still, this is a strong, well-written, fascinating account of a strange, exciting period in world history.