Books
22 Best Novels About the Scramble for Africa
Bestselling authors first, then star rating.
Period
Scramble for Africa, 1881–1914
1881–1914
The Scramble for Africa was the accelerated partition and conquest of African territory by European empires from the early 1880s to the First World War. Diplomatic agreements and the Berlin Conference attempted to regulate rival claims, but conquest was imposed through campaigns, treaties, commercial pressure and occupation.
African rulers and communities responded through negotiation, adaptation, alliance and armed resistance. The resulting colonies often joined regions with different political traditions while splitting others across borders, reshaping taxation, labour, land ownership and trade.
This context is for books focused on imperial competition and conquest across the continent. Individual wars, such as the Anglo-Zulu or Italo-Ethiopian conflicts, should use their own more specific records.
Related people for Scramble for Africa, 1881–1914
Non-Fiction
2 Best Non-Fiction Books About the Scramble for Africa
Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.
