This is a study of the genesis, evolution, adaptation and subordination of the Kikuyu squatter labourers, who comprised the majority of resident labourers on settler plantations and estates in the Rift Valley Province of the White Highlands. The story of the squatter presence in the White Highlands is essentially the story of the conflicts and contradictions that existed between two agrarian systems, the settler plantation economy and the squatter peasant option. Initially, the latter developed into a viable but much resented sub-system which operated within and, to some extent, in competition with settler agriculture. This study is largely concerned with the dynamics of the squatter presence in the White Highlands and with the initiative, self-assertion and resilience with which they faced their subordinate position as labourers. In their response to the machinations of the colonial system, the squatters were neither passive nor malleable but, on the contrary, actively resisted coercion and subordination as they struggled to carve out a living for themselves and their families.... It is a firm conviction of this study that Kikuyu squatters played a crucial role in the initial build-up of the events that led to the outbreak of the Mau Mau war. —from the introduction

The author follows the story of the squatters farming the land in the 'White Highlands' at first unused by the Europeans. After 1923 the white settlers demanded more labour from the squatters and began to restrict their use of the land for cultivation and animal husbandry until by the early 1940s most of the squatters livestock had gone. Kanogo traces the squatters' increasing poverty and disillusion and their involvement in Mau Mau, particularly that of the women. North America: Ohio U Press; Kenya: EAEP

Clough (history, U. of Northern Colorado) analyzes 13 personal accounts by Kenyans in order to make a case for not only their historical value, but their role in the struggle to define the importance of Mau Mau within Kenyan historiography and politics. He argues that the recollections of the authors, whose experiences ranged from organizing the secret movement, to supplying the guerillas, to active fighting, to resistance in the British detention camps, serve to refute both the British and Kenyan versions of the revolt. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Decades on from independence the role of Mau Mau still excites argument and controversy, not least in Kenya itself.

Based on rare oral data from women participants in the "Mau Mau" rebellion, this book chronicles changes in women's domestic reproduction, legal status, and gender roles that took place under colonial rule. The book links labour activism, cultural nationalism, and the more overtly political issues of land alienation, judicial control, and character