West African Soldiers in Britain's Colonial Army, 1860-1960

Name: West African Soldiers in Britain's Colonial Army, 1860-1960
Brand: University of Rochester Press
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

By Timothy Stapleton

0 - Default Title

Description

West African Soldiers in Britain's Colonial Army explores the complex and constantly changing experience of West African soldiers under British command in Nigeria, the Gold Coast (now Ghana), Sierra Leone, and the Gambia. Since cost and tropical disease limited the deployment of British metropolitan troops to the region, British colonial rule in West Africa depended heavily on locally recruited soldiers and their families. This force became Britain's largest colonial army in Sub-Saharan Africa.West African Soldiers looks at the development of this colonial military from the conquest era of the late nineteenth century to decolonization in the 1950s. Rather than describing the many battles fought by this army both regionally and overseas, and informed by the concept of military culture, the book looks at the broad and overlapping themes of identity, culture, daily life, and violence. Chapter topics include the enslaved origins of the force, military identities including the myth of martial races, religious life, visual symbols like uniforms and insignia, health care related to tropical and sexually transmitted diseases, the experience of army wives, disciplinary flogging, mutiny, day-to-day violence committed by troops, and the employment of former soldiers by the colonial state. Based on archival research in five countries, the book derives inspiration from previous work on ordinary African soldiers in the British and German colonies of East Africa and in French West Africa.

Product details

Number of Pages:: 402
Release Date:: 2021-12-17
Publication Date:: 2021-12-17
Publisher:: University of Rochester Press
Languages:: Original: English
ISBN10:: 1648250254
ISBN13:: 9781648250255
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:: [email protected]
Weight:: 731 g
Height:: 157 cm
Width:: 235 cm
Thickness:: 26 cm

Buy on Amazon

Currently sold out