Britain's Gulag cover art

Britain's Gulag

The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya

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Britain's Gulag

By: Caroline Elkins
Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Only a few years after Britain defeated fascism came the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya - a mass armed rebellion by the Kikuyu people, demanding the return of their land and freedom. The draconian response of Britain's colonial government was to detain nearly the entire Kikuyu population of 1.5 million and to portray them as sub-human savages. Detainees in their thousands - possibly a hundred thousand or more - died from exhaustion, disease, starvation and systemic physical brutality. For decades these events remained untold.

Caroline Elkins conducted years of research to piece together this story, unearthing reams of documents and interviewing several hundred Kikuyu survivors. Britain's Gulag reveals, for the first time, the full savagery of the Mau Mau war and the ruthless determination with which Britain sought to control its empire.

©2024 Caroline Elkins (P)2024 Penguin Audio 20th Century Africa Colonialism & Post-Colonialism Europe Great Britain Modern Politics & Government War

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All stars
Most relevant
I was not a fan of how the Narrator narrate the audiobook. However the book is still worth reading as it shows the brutality of British Rule, and how the british were little better than the Nazis. Cannot believe what the british got away with. Hard to believe people are still apologists for this empire

Annoying Narrator however still worth reading

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This narrative exposes the lie at the heart of Britain’s self-professed civilising mission. Britain’s Gulag lays bare the mother of all cover-ups and state-sponsored deceptions, whilst meting out torture and barbarism on a scale of brutality no less horrifying than that of the Nazi forced labour camps. This is compulsive reading for anyone who still believes the UK’s colonial regime was benign.

The stain on Britain’s colonial past

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It's well narrated, properly paced and vividly paints a picture of Kenyas dark colonial past.

A testament to truth.

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Brilliant research, brilliant book. Should be compulsory on every University's History Course. Please buy it.

Essiential reading.

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