Review by Choice

by R. R. Atkinson, University of South Carolina

Buganda was one of the largest, most powerful polities in precolonial East Africa. It is also one of the most studied, although mainly a generation ago and with an overwhelmingly political focus. Reid offers a welcome, ambitious break from this norm in this book on the material and military bases of political power in 19th-century Buganda, especially post-1850. Part 1 surveys the overall Ganda economy, emphasizing its abundance and diversity. Part 2 examines the human resources of the state: labor, taxation/tribute, and slavery (especially widespread after 1850). Part 3 highlights the central importance of trade to Buganda’s material wealth and power; first, long-established domestic and regional trade, then 19th-cen tury long-distance commerce connected with the East African coast. The latter transformed Buganda’s economy and foreign relations, both augmenting and undermining the wealth and power of the kingdom and its central authority. Finally, part 4 discusses military organization, tactics, and weaponry, and thereafter. This is an impressive study, asking important questions and marshalling a wealth of evidence and original argument to provide bold (and mostly convincing) answers.

Choice
Vol. 41, No. 01, p. 305
September 2003