Britain, Kenya and the Cold War: Imperial Defence, Colonial Security and Decolonisation

(Hardback)

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Far from having to "scram from Africa" following the abandonment of her East Suez role, Britain continued to vigorously pursue imperial interests in Africa, with Kenya taking centre-stage. This book shows Britain maintaining her strategic priorities here: cultivating the moderate Kenyatta government, giving up the unacceptable colonial army base, but retaining military army camps, rights of overflying, staging and training, and arming and training the Kenyan military. Kenyan decolonization and British interests, it becomes clear, were intimately linked and vital within the context of the Cold War and East-West regional rivalry.

Reviews

Royal Institute of International Affairs Journal: "meticulous detail"; The Overseas Pensioner, April 2005 - "We can be grateful to David Percox for this new work. The author has researched in depth British colonial policy in Kenya from 1945 to 1965 linked with a study of overseas defence policy. The bibliography is most valuable". '...Percox, drawing on newly accessible colonial records..., argues that the pathway to the transfer of power was far from the orderly one that recent historical studies have proposed.' 'The great virtue of this work is its scrupulous attention to security and military considerations.' 'A good insight' African History

Author Bio

David Percox carried out his research at the Department of History, University of Nottingham.