L'Afrique des Grands Lacs : Deux mille ans d'histoire

by Jean-Pierre Chrétien

Tristement célèbre depuis le génocide rwandais de 1994, la région des Grands Lacs d'Afrique demeure très peu connue. Découverts à partir des années 1860, les royaumes situés près des sources du Nil s'inscrivaient dans une histoire pourtant ancienne : établis depuis le XVIe siècle au moins, ils structuraient un peuplement complexe de langues bantu, maîtrisant agriculture, élevage et métallurgie depuis deux millénaires. Au contact des colonisateurs allemands, britanniques et belges - et des missionnaires catholiques ou protestants, leur organisation, qui reposait sur des constitutions non écrites de nature religieuse, a été remodelée. Les États indépendants nés au XIXe siècle (notamment le Burundi, le Rwanda, l'Ouganda) ont hérité de cette double histoire, ancienne et coloniale ; ils se retrouvent piégés par une reconstruction raciale (« Bantous », « Hamites », « Nilotes », etc.) de leur propre passé qui nourrit la politique contemporaine.

Cet ouvrage, qui a obtenu le prix du festival des « Rendez-vous de l'Histoire » de Blois en 2000 (prix Augustin Thierry), mobilise tous les outils disponibles - archéologie, linguistique, sources orales, anthropologie, archives... pour décrypter l'histoire d'une région d'Afrique dont la culture a fasciné les observateurs européens.

Genres: History, Africa, Rwanda, Nonfiction, Uganda, Tanzania, Eastern Africa

416 pages, Pocket Book

First published January 15, 2003

About the author

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pi...

Reviews

[Emily Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to rate because it's not an easy or fun read, but it's probably one of the most comprehensive books on the history of this region.

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book if you have any interest in the region. However, prehistory is always hard to write well and this book is mostly prehistory. I'm sure the translation does not help. I loved how this book showed me that after two years living in Burundi I had almost no understanding of the culture. I recommed it for those interested in Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi otherwise skip it.

[Kieran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of thousands of years of history in an undercovered region (in English). Dispels a lot of myths about biology and migration and provides a solid understanding of recent conflicts.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book for class - dense. Hard to follow so many moving pieces but interesting

[AskHistorians]

In this work, Chretien synthesizes colonial archives, oral tradition, archaeological digs, and anthropological studies to trace 2000 years of history in the region. Beginning by tracing the history of settlement and the development of kingdoms, he then explains the transformations that occurred during German, Belgian and British colonial regimes, and their relevance to the present situation.

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

have you wondered what kind of food people in rwanda ate in the 1500s? answer: bananas! and yams! This book has the answer to lots more riveting questions, and more funny african names than you can shake a stick at! but you don't have to take MY word for it...

[Andrew]

Chrétien has deep knowledge of the history, but is sometimes not very sympathetic to his reader, occasionally drowning them in references to hundreds of groups and regions that I found hard to follow. But still a useful book.

[Jeremy Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Present from Mum and Dad.
Well written and informative if a bit heavy!