The Scramble for Africa

by Thomas Pakenham

In 1880 the continent of Africa was largely unexplored by Europeans. Less than thirty years later, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained unconquered by them. The rest – 10 million square miles with 110 million bewildered new subjects – had been carved up by five European powers (and one extraordinary individual) in the name of Commerce, Christianity, ‘Civilization’ and Conquest. The Scramble for Africa is the first full-scale study of that extraordinary episode in history.