Divide and Rule: The Partition of Africa, 1880-1914

As Wesseling tells it, Africa turned into a prize for European powers beginning in 1870, when France, defeated by Germany, sought compensation for its diminished continental power by expanding overseas. By 1880, European nations started dividing up the continent at a furious pace. Not to be outdone by France, Britain joined the race, as did Germany, Portugal and Italy. King Leopold of tiny Belgium even managed to outmaneuver the bigger powers for the Belgian Congo, his extra-large share of the pie. Cunning players such as Bismarck and Lord Salisbury engaged in a diplomatic chess game in which one strategic move could mean control or loss of part of Africa. African possessions often translated into increased political power at home as well as economic gain. As time went on, the protection of commercial interests abroad was linked with cheap food for the masses at home and a market for European goods, especially spirits. This most recent effort to synthesize the history of Africa's partition is a lively, accessible account for the interested layperson and for the serious scholar. Wesseling, professor of general history at the University of Leiden in Holland, ends by contrasting the European and African perspectives on the colonial period: ""It is... strange and rather sad, to recall that European colonialism in Africa, which Africans nowadays consider to have been so damaging, should have been of such small importance to Europe itself."" Art not seen by PW. (June)