Rogue empires : contracts and conmen in Europe's scramble for Africa / Steven Press.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Press, Steven, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Berlin West Africa Conference (1884-1885 : Berlin, Germany).

Berlin West Africa Conference.

Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898.

Bismarck, Otto.

Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898.

Gladstone, W. E.

Colonies.

Administration.

History.

Colonization.

Africa--Colonization--History.

Africa.

Europe--Colonies--Administration--History.

Europe.

Physical Description:

371 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2017.

Summary:

Rogue Empires takes a new look at the origins and consequences of a key moment in European History: the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885. Drawing on archival research conducted in ten countries and three languages, the book argues that the flood of rogue empires in Africa came about due to a short-lived European obsession with events happening far away, in Southeast Asia. European investors there had recently promoted an idea of buying empires through "private" purchases of sovereignty: full control over a place's resources and people, with neither monitoring by third parties, nor any accountability to a nation, nor, in most cases, the awareness of affected indigenous peoples. Once this idea made its way back around the world to European capitals, it inspired a number of important figures, notably German chancellor Otto von Bismarck and British Prime Minister William Gladstone, to support a string of copycat ventures in Sub-Saharan Africa.-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The man who bought a country

The emergence of an idea

King Leopold's Borneo

Bismarck's Borneo

Epilogue: "A great act of folly".

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674971851

067497185X

OCLC:

959648706