The history of the Swahili coast is laced with political intrigue, scandal, international commerce, war, invasion and terrorism. Stretching from Somalia in the north, through Kenya and Tanzania, to Mozambique in the south and to the great offshore islands of the coast, it is home to the Swahili people, a unique blend of Arab, African and Persian, whose story stretches back more than two thousand years and which forms the backdrop to one of Africa's oldest and greatest civilizations. Drawing on archaeology, the civic chronicles of the Swahili towns and accounts of the coast written by explorers, traders and colonialists from as far afield as Italy, China and Britain, this illustrated book tells the story of the Swahili coast. Moving from the slave markets and clove plantations of Zanzibar, to the stone towns of the Lamu Archipelago, to the fight for control of Mombasa and its great bastion, Fort Jesus, it tells the stories of Zanzibar sultans, Swahili traders, Portuguese conquerors and Christian missionaries.

This book is a compilation of documents throughout history which discuss the East African Coast. Authors of these documents include figures such as Claudius Ptolemy, Marco Polo, and Vasco da Gama.

"East Africa: An Introductory History documents the transformation of East Africa from the Stone Age to the first decade of the twenty-first century. The book is ideal for any reader interested in unraveling the intricate history of East Africa, and especially for students coming to the study of this region for the first time."--BOOK JACKET.

This is a summary of East African history from pre-1500 to the 1960s, and independence. Topics covered: early migration and settlement and pastoralism in early societies; the costal towns and trade; Islam in East Africa and the rise of Swahili culture; the Portuguese in East Africa; Omani power; Buganda and other East African peoples; the Ngoni invasion; internal trade; the slave trade and European missionaries and trade in East Africa; British conquest and occupation, the establishment and reactions to colonial rule; Tanganyika; Zanzibar and the British; the British and the Ugandan railways and indirect rule in Uganda; the effects of the First World War and subsequent economic, social and constitutional development.

This text reviews documents to evaluate Britain's claim that it had a prominent role in the extinction of slavery and the slave trade in East Africa. It demonstrates that the moral imperative for an abolitionist policy was often subordinated in favour of material wealth and imperial strength.