World War I

In the aftermath of the Great War, many Britons dismissed the East Africa campaign as a remote "sideshow." But to the other combatant powers, it was a campaign of immense importance, and it continued to rage even after the Armistice was signed. Here, for the first time and in devastating detail, is the true story of what happened, told by one of the finest historians of our time. Edward Paice follows this final phase of the European conquest of Africa, as both Allies and Germans lay waste to an area five times the size of Germany, and cause civilian suffering on an unimaginable scale.

The First World War was not just fought in the trenches of the western front. It embraced all of Africa. Many of those who fought this white man's war were black. The dangers they confronted went beyond those of the battlefield. They fell prey to malaria and dysentry, and they were attacked by lions and crocodiles. But it was a vast and spectacular theatre of operations and embraces the perspectives of all the nations who fought there, this is the first ever full account of the Great War in Africa.