Ebook: Political Power Pre:Colonial Buganda: Economy, Society & Warfare in the Nineteenth Century

The pre-colonial African kingdom of Buganda was situated on the northern shore of Lake Victoria. Reid argues that the political history of the state needs to be read in new light given his examination of social, economic, and military developments as the material basis for political power. He explores the relationship between the state, its subjects, and its resources in terms of land, public labor, taxation, regional and long-distance trade, and military organization (to protect trade and resources). The resultant narrative, he argues, is more complex and dynamic than previous scholarship has acknowledged.