Biography · Kenyan History & the Liberation Struggle
The Life of Dedan Kimathi
A Biography — the Life, Capture and Legacy of Kenya's Mau Mau Hero
by Makena Brandon · Published by Discussion Publishers · Sponsored by Utu Heritage · Images by Discussion Publishers
About this book
Dedan Kimathi is one of the best known names in Kenya and one of the least documented. Schools, roads, a stadium and a university carry his name, and there is a bronze statue of him in Nairobi, yet most Kenyans can say very little about his life beyond the fact that he led the Mau Mau fighters and was hanged by the British in 1957.
Dedicated to the Kimathi family and to the families of all who died in the Emergency, this biography follows Kimathi from his birth near Nyeri in 1920 through school and the land question, the Mau Mau oath, life in the forest, his capture, trial and execution in 1957, and the Kenya that came after — memorials, the search for his grave, and how his name is remembered today. A timeline and Notes on Sources close the book, with the disagreements between accounts stated openly.
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