Ali Mazrui Professor of African Studies @umich. #MacFellow. New book: A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda. Available at https://xitter.cf/t.co/8TjlhKEBfb
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My new book--A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda--publishes today! Based on newly-available government archives, the book shows why and how Amin's regime commanded popular support.
It can be bought on paper or as an e-book here:
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780…
I am delighted that @FountainPublish has now brought out _A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda_.
Join us at the book launch on Wednesday this week, 21 Oct, at @Makerere at 2 pm. Come & hear from @dfkm1970, @dntshimba, @edgarjacktaylor & other smart people! Details below.
A pleasure to be at Namirembe Cathedral this morning for the Luganda service, at the historical centre of Protestant Christianity here in Uganda.
The choir of men and boys sang Brahms' 'How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place' in a Luganda translation done by the choirmaster. 1/
Delighted to get this today.
'Sing for the Pro-Palestinian Students' consists of 26 essays composed by colleagues, students, & critics of my May 2026 commencement address here @UMich.
It's publishing soon on Disobedience Press. Available here:
disobediencepress.com/sing-f…
Here's a shot of Kampala in 1897, taken I think from Namirembe Hill by Dr. Albert Cook.
It was a precarious time for missionaries like Cook: Kabaka Mwanga was in Buddu, raising a rebellion against the colonial order. There were 30 Sudanese soldiers guarding the city.
A very good Independence Day to colleagues and friends in Uganda.
In 2022 I put together a film to mark the 60th anniversary of Ugandan independence. It was part of a national exhibition @ugandamuseums.
The film can be found here. #UgandaAt60
youtube.com/watch?v=DDqE3uDu…
Derek R Peterson retweeted
Fascinating conversation with @Unseen_Archive out now! Watch the brand new episode of The Biographer's Chair podcast talking about the Ugandan peoples under the rule of Idi Amin #UgandaHistory #IdiAmin #DerekRPeterson #BiographersChair #Uganda
youtu.be/_ffWkQmX8UI?is=oZzG… – at Upper Colwall, England
Derek R Peterson retweeted
Fascinating conversation with @Unseen_Archive coming to you tomorrow. Watch the brand new episode of The Biographer's Chair podcast talking about the Ugandan peoples under the rule of Idi Amin #UgandaHistory #IdiAmin #DerekRPeterson #BiographersChair #Uganda – at Great Malvern, England
I'm glad to say that _A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda_ has been shortlisted for the Best Book prize of the African Studies Association @ASANewsOnline.
Here's the announcement:
africanstudies.org/awards-pr…
The Gossage Cup--launched in 1926--was the oldest football tournament in Africa.
Here's film from the 1956 version. First: the semifinal, which putting Uganda against Zanzibar.
It was--as far as I can see--the first film made by the Uganda Film Unit.
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Here's the final of the 1956 Gossage Cup, which pitted Uganda against Kenya. Uganda emerged the winner, 3-2.
Derek R Peterson retweeted
How we understand Africa’s past has been shaped by historians who challenged old assumptions. John Iliffe was one of them — and his work left a lasting mark on African history.
theconversation.com/john-ili…
💻 Derek R. Peterson, @UMich
#ArtsCultureAndSociety
I've just published an admiring obituary of the late historian John Iliffe in @TC_Africa.
Prof. Iliffe was my colleague during the time I taught @Cambridge_Uni, and I learned a great deal from him.
Requiem aeternam.
theconversation.com/john-ili…
I am very sorry to hear of the death of Oyo Nyimba, the late Omukama of Tooro.
He spent much of his short life growing into the leadership of his kingdom. He was crowned in 1995 after his father's death. He was 3 years old.
Here's a clip of his coronation. Courtesy @Reuters.
As the Trump govt contemplates making Lake Ontario into 'Lake America':
Here's the Voice of Uganda, 17 July 1973: Presidents Idi Amin and Mobutu rename Lake Edward as 'Lake Idi Amin Dada' & Lake Albert as 'Lake Mobutu sese Seko'.
As Ugandan diplomat @Olara_Otunnu navigates the final stages of election to @UN Secretary General:
Here's a post about the first African woman to address the UN General Assembly: Elizabeth Bagaya, princess of the Tooro kingdom, lawyer, fashion icon, Foreign Minister to Idi Amin.
On 26 Sept 1974 Ugandan Foreign Minister Elizabeth Bagaya gave a wide-ranging speech at the General Assembly of the UN. It was the first time an African woman addressed that body. @Reuters clips follow.
Bagaya: western media carried 'false & concocted' stories about Uganda. 1/
Derek R Peterson retweeted
@Unseen_Archive : I remember this photograph in your post as if it were yesterday. It was taken at Prof. John Iliffe’s retirement conference at St John’s College, Cambridge, a gathering I was privileged to attend. There stood giants of African history: John Lonsdale, Terence Ranger, John McCracken, alongside Prof. Frederick J. Kaijage of the University of Dar es Salaam. What a constellation of Africanists! What a moment in the intellectual history of Africa. Today, the photograph carries an even deeper poignancy.
Colleagues will be sorry to hear that historian John Iliffe has this morning passed away in Cambridge at age 87.
Iliffe was a maker of the academic field of African history. He took up a post at the University of Dar es Salaam shortly after Tanganyika's independence.
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In 2004 I moved to Cambridge, where I had the pleasure of teaching alongside him. He was an outstanding teacher and an excellent lecturer.
Altogether he trained 29 PhD students; many of them now occupy positions of importance in British and African universities.