21 Oct 1956 — Near Nyeri, a tribal policeman shoots and captures Dedan Kimathi, the forest leader. Kimathi is hanged in February 1957; the organised forest war is effectively over.
WW2 is free in full, and chapter 1 of every atlas is free. A free account opens 3 more chapters a day. Starter, at $9 a month, opens all 21 with no daily limit — see the plans.
21 OCTOBER 1956 · TWO ROADS TO INDEPENDENCE: HAITI 1789–1838 AND KENYA 1895–1978
The moment in context
Britain initially pursued the rebellion's alleged leaders and the men in the forests. From December 1952 to April 1953 Kenyatta and five KAU leaders stood trial at Kapenguria, a remote schoolhouse chosen to keep crowds away. They received seven years' hard labour. A key witness later swore that he had been bribed to give his evidence.
Why it happened — An insurgency rooted in land. Land and freedom were not abstract demands for the people who supplied the forest armies. In the 1940s squatters had been pushed off farms, young…
The turn — Hola camp, 3 March 1959. By 3 March 1959 Britain had won the forest war, but eleven detainees died at Hola when guards carried out a prisons department plan to force men…
What it changed — The Emergency ends and the talks begin. The Emergency ended on 12 January 1960, after the forest war and the discrediting of the camps. The first Lancaster House conference opened in…
Get the printable study guide for Two Roads to Independence free. I’ll send you a few short letters, then one when a new atlas opens. That’s all. — Paul
NO TRACKING · YOUR ADDRESS IS USED FOR THE DISPATCH AND NOTHING ELSE ·
UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME
