Reid's new book on the material and military bases of political power in nineteenth century Buganda - especially post-1850 - is a welcome, ambitious and innovative break from this norm. ...This is an impressive study. Reid marshals a wealth of evidence and original argument on material conditions in late nineteenth-century Buganda, and the ways that those conditions shaped the nature and workings of the Ganda state. Even when he is not persuasive...Reid asks important questions and provides bold answers. His book breaks new ground that advances not only the study of precolonial Buganda, but also of precolonial Ugandan and East African History more generally.

• Part 1 Land and livelihood: a survey of Ganda economy I - land and cultivation; a survey of Ganda economy II - herdsmen and hunters; a survey of Ganda economy III - crafts and craftsmen. Part 2 Labour and liberty: the state and its human resources I -labour and taxation; the state and its human resources II -slavery. Part 3 Buyers and sellers: developments in commerce I -domestic and regional trade; developments in commerce II - the growth of long-distance trade. Part 4 War and peace: war and peace I - the rise and decline of Ganda military power; war and peace II - developments in organization, tactics and weaponry; Lake Victoria - the final frontier.