interesting and well read

I really enjoyed this book, it covered a part of history you don't hear much about. It gave some good detail and inspired me to look into the subject.

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Highly engrossing

Very rich character portrayals. Weaves together the narrative along with plenty of fascinating context whenever a new thread is introduced. Analysis of the conflict between the equally oppressive forces of white imperialist ‘coolie capitalism’ vs conservative medieval islamic fundamentalist jihad very interesting. Loved the conclusion which linked the conflict to Blair and Bush in Iraq and the War on Terror

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Excellent

Just excellent. Anyone interested in British empire, this is a really detailed history of Anglo Arab wars. Generally balanced view, not a modern woke hatchet job. Really enjoyed,

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1 person found this helpful

Disappointingly narrow in scope

This isn’t a book which succeeds in its stated aims to cover the meeting of the Islamic and Imperial worlds in Africa. It’s a book narrowly focused on a handful of exploratory expeditions (eg. Livingstone) and then military wars/skirmishs (eg. Gordon).
It provides enlightening context for the heroes of empire, and the militaries that clashed over Egypt and Sudan on both sides. Ethiopian, Libyan, and Somali conflicts are very, very briefly covered, but seemingly in a desire to pad the book as they are given a derisory treatment. The section on the First World War is particularly disappointing.

Ironically for a revisionist tome, it’s focus on the top-down, military and political elements of the meeting of two civilisations completely obscures the social, religious, or economic histories of the regions or peoples, and touching on the ideological impacts on these two societies.

There’s frustratingly little said about the Ottoman Empire, especially given its importance in the regions discussed, or about ramifications of these events more broadly across either world (British or Muslim), of which we only hear tantalising snippets.

It’s a 21st century history book, so there’s crypto-communist thought scattered throughout the book, which rears its head in the conclusion with some rather grandiose statements. One must understand that, in reading so many 19th century sources, the temptation for the author to copy their proclivity to make sweeping, generalised, and often baseless statements must have been very high. However, it further undermines the credibility of what political commentary there is in the book.

Overall, this isn’t a bad listen - it is well written and well researched, but it is truly let down by trying to be something it isn’t.

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