AGĩkũyũ, 1890-1965: Waiyaki. Kenyata. Kimaathi.

This book, written in Gikuyu this book is intended to serve as a textbook for students of history who are interested in studying the history and culture of the Agikuyu people and their involvement in the struggle for national independence. The material is chronologically arranged in four sections, covering the entire range of Kenyan history, from the colonial period to 1965. The first section (1884-1920) covers the primary resistance to the establishment and consolidation of colonial rule. The second section covers 1920 - 1940 when the forces of independence operated within the framework of colonial "democracy". In a practical sense, the period witnessed the peasant-worker alliance against colonial occupation, the formation of the first African political organizations, including the Young Kikuyu Association, East African Association, Kavirondo Young Association, Kikuyu Central Association, North Kavirondo Young Association, Ukamba Members Association, and Taita Hills Association. The period also witnessed the formation of the trade union movement and the intensification of the anti-imperialist cultural resistance. Section three 1940-1952 details anti-colonial efforts whose objective were to overthrow the colonial system through electoral politics and create a non-racial democratic society. From this formed a national anti-imperialist front, the Kenya African Union, in 1944 under the leadership of Jomo Kenyatta. At this stage, divergent class and individual interest began to manifest themselves within the African population. The fourth section, 1952-1963, was that of the armed independence movement, the formation of the Mau Mau movement with its armed wing, the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), led by Field Marshal Kĩmathi, which sought to eradicate the colonial system altogether.

About the Author :
Maina wa Kĩnyattĩ is a Kenyan Marxist historian and former political prisoner under Daniel arap Moi's dictatorship. He is widely considered the foremost researcher on the Mau Mau in Kenya, one of the primary reasons that Kinyatti was arrested and imprisoned. After being released from prison on 17 October 1988 (after serving six and a half years, mostly in solitary confinement), he fled the country to Tanzania, fearing a re-arrest by Moi's government. After a month in Dar es Salaam, Kinyatti was forced to apply for political asylum in the US. Kinyatti was awarded the PEN Freedom to Write Award in 1988.