Facing Mount Kenya, first published in 1938, is a monograph on the life and customs of the Gikuyu people of central Kenya prior to their contact with Europeans. It is unique in anthropological literature for it gives an account of the social institutions and religious rites of an African people, permeated by the emotions that give to customs and observances their meaning. It is characterised by both insight and a tinge of romanticism. The author, proud of his African blood and ways of thought, takes the reader through a thorough and clear picture of Gikuyu life and customs, painting an almost utopian picture of their social norms and the sophisticated codes by which all aspects of the society were governed. This book is one of a kind, capturing and documenting traditions fast disappearing. It is therefore a must-read for all who want to learn about African culture.

The first study to use Jomo Kenyatta's political biography and presidency as a basis for examining the colonial and postcolonial history of Kenya.

A heavily illustrated biography of the first president of Kenya.

This book is the first systematic political history of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s founding president. The first of two parts, it explores Kenyatta’s formative years in nationalist activism in Kenya and Britain, the complex links between colonial and British intelligence services and Kenyatta’s career and the political compromise he forged between Kenya and Britain. This book draws on primary sources to analyze this compromise, which marked his transformation from "leader to darkness and death" to the most beloved post-colonial African leader in the West.

As with his critically acclaimed book on Suez, Keith Kyle revisits as a scholar ground that he first covered as a print and television journalist. After three introductory chapters covering the years 1895-1957, the core of the book examines in lively detail how Kenya moved from Mau Mau trauma to national freedom. The immediacy of the eye-witness, which older readers will remember from television reports, is now combined with the fruits of reflection and meticulous archival research to create a unique authoritative study of this vital period for Kenya, for Africa and for the British Empire.