Take that!

I’m sometimes taken aback by the confidence some scholars bring to published book reviews. I could never do this:

Books that purport to explain Kenya’s inner dynamics in the hope of shaping public perceptions of what is and should be their outcome can be interesting. The latest in this line is Daniel Branch’s potentially authoritative study. This potential is undermined by inaccuracies, minor and major, and a tendency to gloss over events, thereby hiding the essence of the story. As a result, the running theme of Kenyan politics appears to be Kikuyu acquisition and abuse of power and the sidelining of the Luo.

In the process, the book ends up reading like a refurbished version of Kikuyu-bashing scholarship that can be traced back to Z. A. Marsh and G. Kingsnorth’s Introduction to the History of East Africa (1957, third edition 1965)… (Macharia Munene in African Affairs)

Even if I hated it–I wouldn’t, because Branch’s knowledge of Kenyan history vastly outweighs mine–I’d probably bumble around for a less direct way of expressing my hate. Does that say something about my academic prospects?

No, I’m not that cynical about the academy.

In fairness to Branch–whose journal work I’m familiar with–a couple other reviewers are much more positive.

Kenya: Between hope and despair, 1963–2011
By David Branch

Philip Murphy squeaks out a modest critique:

Nevertheless, one sometimes yearns for a more sustained analysis of the forms of social organization below the level of the state, which make daily life possible in the face of such a comprehensive failure of political leadership. Branch gives a glimpse of this parallel world, when he describes the ‘astounding generosity and instinctive humanitarianism’ encountered by many of those who were displaced in the wake of the 2007 elections. This is the other side of the depressingly familiar story of state failure in post-colonial Africa, and is, perhaps, where hope will ultimately lie. That Branch does not pursue this aspect in greater detail is not, however, to detract from his achievement. He has written a scholarly, challenging and highly readable history of Kenya since 1963.

E. Ike Udogu is looking for a high five:

In all, this book provides an extraordinarily meticulous description of the political and historical activities that transpired in Kenya from pre-independence, self-rule up to last year (2011). The author’s scrupulous approach to details sometimes makes reading some of the chapters somewhat cumbersome. Nevertheless, the comprehensiveness of the research makes the volume very useful to students of African political history in general and, certainly, Kenyan political history in particular.