An Uncertain Age

“Provocative and meticulously researched, Ocobock’s book demonstrates the importance of age and masculinity in Kenyan history. Readers will appreciate the elegant prose and arresting detail of this rigorous narrative history. Ocobock is unquestionably a historian and writer of first rank.”

“In Ocobock’s work, intriguing tales about male initiation and other coming-of-age practices show how African youth and elders struggled with colonial officials, missionaries, settlers, and nationalist leaders over the meanings of manhood. His nuanced analysis enriches and expands the history of masculinities.”

“In demonstrating the centrality of concerns over age and gender, Ocobock offers a brilliant means of reconceiving Kenyan history beyond the more usual focus on ethnicity. Linking the processes of growing up and state making, he deftly shows how gendered notions of maturity have shaped Kenya’s politics. This superb book will find a wide and appreciative audience.”

“With a sure command of the literature, Ocobock argues for the increased importance of gender and generation for historical research.…The core of the book, based on archival material and in-depth interviews, contrasts the colonial era ‘elder state’ to the contemporary postcolonial situation. Although these chapters are informative and detailed, the introductory chapter alone is worth the price of admission’…Summing up: Highly recommended.” ~Choice

“Compellingly elucidates that Kenya as a colony was no seamless well-oiled machine, but rather a ‘crowded, cacophonous place’ of religious leaders,

judges, wardens, and other authorities who all had frequently competing visions about how to shape age and manhood.”

~African Studies Review