In the introduction to A History of Modern Uganda, Richard Reid asks, “does the nation itself have a history, or do we only tell the histories of the peoples who happen to live within those boundaries?” (5). Reid argues that Uganda does have a history, and recognizing that history becomes more essential as a transition to whatever comes after Museveni draws inevitably closer. Reid’s story is one of diversity and connection over the longue durée.

Each chapter explores an aspect of Uganda’s past following a distinct theme. The first considers how Uganda has been represented in memoir, popular culture, art, and fiction, as well as in works of academic history. Reid then highlights the creative and destructive consequences of violence in two chapters. One describes the Amin, Obote, and Museveni years, and the next discusses the movement and interaction of people from the distant past through the nineteenth century, along with wars related to enslavement and colonial incursions. Both chapters identify a pattern whereby violent succession drove militarization, and militarization then developed its own momentum. The commercial revolution of the nineteenth century and its social consequences, which stretch to the present, are the subject of the fourth chapter. The last chapter explores the relationship of monarchs with the British colonial administration and with the independent state. A prologue and epilogue consider the uses of the past for Ugandans. Reid takes care to include the regions of modern Uganda that were not parts of kingdoms.

This is a substantial scholarly work covering topics raging from economic transformation to militarization, enslavement, religious struggle, colonial violence, urbanization, literature, sports, arts, politics, culture wars, gender, diplomacy, and royal intrigue. Each chapter could be considered a historiographical essay, with Reid’s own archival work also contributing in significant ways. Reid has read, and he cites, almost everything. There are twenty-six pages of bibliography on Uganda, and seven pages of bibliographic notations of comparative, theoretical, and contextual sources. Indeed, the book might have been more accurately entitled “Essays in the Modern History of Uganda.” Each chapter, however, has an internal logic, and all the chapters contribute to Reid’s argument that the connections among people in Uganda over time have created an identifiable national history. The book’s achievement as historiography will make it invaluable to whoever wants to be introduced to the landscape of scholarship on a particular topic in Ugandan history.

At the same time, the encyclopedic scope of the work may present some challenges to the less informed reader, who may find the complex stories difficult to comprehend. Even a more informed reader may search for the interpretative focus of Reid’s comprehensive narrative. The narrative approach of separating military and political history from economic, social, and cultural history may be particularly frustrating for a reader looking for insights regarding how these fundamental aspects of reality affected one another. One aspect of Reid’s use of sources seems regrettable—although perhaps necessary. Recognizing the potential danger to the Ugandan friends, colleagues, and informants with whom he spoke in Uganda, Reid chose to anonymize all his interviews. While protecting sources is essential, the reduction of these sources to “authors field notes and informal interviews” has the effect of erasing the personhood of Ugandans who helped him analyze the present.

Nevertheless, A History of Modern Uganda, though challenging, meets the needs of several different communities of readers. I hope Reid’s story of the interconnectedness of the peoples of Uganda will be available to the many Ugandans who seek to use history to understand the present. Diplomats, visitors, and others who want to be introduced to Uganda will find what they need in this book. Scholars of Uganda will be grateful to Reid for the great breadth of his scholarship, and might want to consider using the book as a text for an advanced level course. And all of us who have been pestered to write a one-volume history of Uganda and argued that yes, it was necessary, but who were not willing to do the immense amount of work required, owe Reid a great debt of gratitude for producing this ambitious and erudite book.