Covering a vital period in the history and development of East Africa this narrative history of the vast region explores the diverse cultural influences of the Arab peoples who traded with East Africa and settled there, Portuguese traders who arrived from the late 17th century onwards and the first wave of settlers from the Indian Subcontinent who arrived in the 19th century. Focusing in particular on the emergence of the slave trade and the subsequent anti-slave trade campaigns, the book is based on contemporary and little known sources. The author shows how rivalries between Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and America were played out in this region prior to the early years of the British colonial administration and settlement.
Special attention is given to a number of key issues such as Lugard's land settlement in Uganda; the demarcation of boundaries and the rounding out of frontiers; the role of the Imperial British East Africa Company in the partition of East Africa; Anglo-German rivalry and the foundation of German East Africa; the little-known story of Italian ambitions in the region; the completion of the Uganda Railway to Lake Victoria; and the concept of British East Africa as two distinct parts: Uganda and the East Africa Protectorate. The emphasis of Beachey's book is part-diplomatic and international history, part exploration and colonial history, and focuses on the early industrial and infrastructural development of the region, and the beginnings of white settlement in Kenya.