Product Description

This is the first published account of the role played by ideas of honour in African history from the fourteenth century to the present day. It argues that appreciation of these ideas is essential to an understanding of past and present African behaviour. Before European conquest, many African men cultivated heroic honour, others admired the civic virtues of the patriarchal householder, and women honoured one another for industry, endurance, and devotion to their families. These values both conflicted and blended with Islamic and Christian teachings. Colonial conquest fragmented heroic cultures, but inherited ideas of honour found new expression in regimental loyalty, respectability, professionalism, working-class masculinity, the changing gender relationships of the colonial order, and the nationalist movements which overthrew that order. Today, the same inherited notions obstruct democracy, inspire resistance to tyranny, and motivate the defence of dignity in the face of AIDS.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #745968 in Books
• Published on: 2004-12-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 430 pages

Review
'Iliffe himself concludes with the suggestion that, if his book serves to raise questions, 'it will have served its purpose', it has certainly done so for this reader.' Journal of African History

'This book is the culmination of decades of interest in how Africans understood their world, an interest first aroused by Iliffe's heretofore largely unpublished research into late 19th century Buganda. … a supremely researched, richly illustrated, and incisively argued book.' The Round Table

'This book makes a powerful argument and raises important questions.' H-Africa

'Iliffe helps us see the politics of West African labour unions, Mau Mau detainees, and other entrepreneurs in a wider frame.' Historical Journal

'This is a monumental work, covering sub-Saharan Africa in its scope and revealing a depth of understanding and a width of reading and research which can be admired. … John Iliffe's book is both landmark and a model.' Oliver Furley, Coventry University

About the Author
John Iliffe is Professor of African History at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St John’s College. He is the author of several book on Africa, including The African Poor: A History (Cambridge, 1987) and Africans: The History of a Continent (Cambridge, 1995). The African Poor was awarded the Herskovits Prize of the African Studies Association of the United States.

Customer Reviews

detailed and informative
This is a very detailed study of African notions of honour and how these can help to explain behaviour within African societies.

The first half of the book studies pre-colonial concepts of honour and the impacts of christianity (in Ethiopia) and Islam (in West Africa) on traditional concepts of honour and behaviour. Honour traditions in central and southern Africa are also examined, in stateless societies, amongst women, householders and slaves. Different "strains" of honour are analysed- military heroism, moral virtue, fulfilment of civic duty etc.

In the second part of the book, the impact of colonial conquest on these pre-existing notions of honour is examined. The fragmentation of African concepts of honour by colonial conquest is used to explain modern African behaviour, with emphasis on how heroic traditions have survived in such modern concepts as professionalism, respectability and dignity in the face of AIDS.

This is a difficult book to read- mainly because of its subject matter. However, it is a worthwhile read for the insight it provides into a significant element of the African value system. I found it most useful, however, for the historical information littered through its many pages.