Scramble for Africa…

In 1880, Africa was largely unexplored by Europeans. Less than thirty years later, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained unconquered by them. The rest of the continent -- 10 million square miles of land and 110 million people -- had been divided up between five European powers and one extraordinary individual. The Scramble for Africa is the first full-scale study of that extraordinary period in history, the repercussions of which affect Africa to this day.

Missionaries, adventurers, politicians, and entrepreneurs all wanted something from Africa. From Stanley to Livingstone, and from King Leopold II to General Charles Gordon, Thomas Pakenham examines the people who conquered, and in many cases, exploited Africa, and the ideals that drove them.

Thomas Pakenham is the author of The Mountains of Rasselas, The Year of Liberty and The Boer War. He divides his time between a terraced house In North Kensington, London and a crumbling castle in Ireland. He is married to the writer Valerie Pakenham and they have four children.

"A phenomenal achievement ... Clear, authoritative, and compelling ... Highly recommended." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review