Uganda: A Modern History

Uganda: A Modern History (1981) provides a comprehensive political, social and economic history of Uganda from the beginnings of colonial rule in 1888. It focuses particularly on the development of the Ugandan economy and demonstrates how the economy became structurally dependent on world capitalism during the colonial period and how this has affected its subsequent development. The book also deals with the political and social tendencies which shaped Ugandan society in both the colonial and postcolonial period. The first four chapters examine the initial colonial occupation and the colonial state’s role in the rural nexus of chiefs, peasants and migrant workers. They also look at the colonial state and the context of the wider national, regional and international economy and analyse the African nationalist response and the formation of political parties to take control of the postcolonial state. The second part of the book considers the political alliances and economic strategies of the Obote regime and the events of Amin’s military regime. The epilogue looks at events since the fall of the Amin regime and suggests ways in which Uganda may be able to tackle its underlying economic problems.