He is described as a Mau Mau oath-taker, seemingly of two minds ñ both for and against, loyal and disloyal. In A Daunting Journey, Jeremiah Gitau Kiereini, lets us into his life spanning three generations. He reveals insights into the influences and intrigues surrounding the early civil service and the powerful individuals who held Kenya's future in their hands. Kiereini also exposes the dichotomy that irreconcilably split the communities involved in the struggle for independence and the personal contradictions and challenges he encountered as he sought to find pride and loyalty in service to a newly independent Kenya. This is truly a fascinating chronicle that takes us from the humble and difficult years of childhood, through the Mau Mau years, the Kenyatta administration, the Moi regime, and on to the present in the life of Jeremiah Kiereini. Most captivating is the narrative on the infamous 1969 oath-taking commonly referred to as, ëCaai wa Gatunduí and the 1982 coup.

World histories vary widely in shape, structure, and range in space and time. In Palgrave Advances in World Histories, ten leading world historians examine the many forms of world history writing, offering an accessible, engaging and comprehensive overview of what it is and what world historians do. This work is a valuable introduction to those new to the field, but will also stimulate discussion, debate and reflection.

This book is an attempt to explain to the layperson what contemporary economics is about. It starts on the assumption that most economics is just refined common sense and clearly explains the key ideas associated with each issue. All the main topics of academic economics are considered: the theory of individual choice, the labour market, the competition between firms, international trade, economic growth, the stock market, unemployment, and money. The general principles are sketched first without maths or diagrams, and then discussed in the context of topical problems such as the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the lack of development in the third-world countries, the contrast between market forces and the protection of the environment, showing how economics is not necessarily a dry academic pursuit.