African Military History by John Lamphear (editor) ISBN 9780754625216, 0754625214 instant download

African Military History by John Lamphear (editor) ISBN 9780754625216, 0754625214 instant download

Non-Africanists, whom it is assumed will make up much of the readership of this volume, may 
find some aspects of African military historiography surprising. Despite the regular publication 
of fine individual contributions, there has been a general tendency by specialist historians 
to downplay the importance of military institutions and the role of conflict in the African 
historical experience. This has been especially true for pre-colonial military history. In Kevin 
Shillington (2005) the most comprehensive recent overview of African studies, subjects such 
as 'Wars' and 'Warfare' are completely absent, and the only entry under 'Military' bears the 
subtitle, 'Colonialism, Conquest, Resistance', as though organized violence in Africa began 
just with the advent of European imperialism. Likewise, the sole entry under 'Armies' is also 
subtitled 'Colonial'. The only other entries with obvious military content are 'Arms, Armies: 
Postcolonial Africa' and 'Coup d'Etat and Military Rule: Postcolonial Africa', examining 
even later events of the independence era. 
To many Africanists military studies have long been deemed politically incorrect, and 
there are few Africanist scholars whom one would identify (or indeed who would identify 
themselves) as military historians. Contributions to African military history in leading military 
journals such as War in History or Military Affairs are rare. Accordingly, much of the African 
military history read by non-specialists is written by amateurs or by scholars whose primary 
area of expertise lies outside the continent. For the most part, this literature is shunned by the Africanist academy. A brief historiographical review reveals why this should be so. 
In general, African historiographical trends have not been conducive to the production of 
military history. To begin with, as literacy was absent from many parts of…