Why read Taxing Colonial Africa?

Book cover of Taxing Colonial Africa: The Political Economy of British Imperialism

Book description

How much did the British Empire cost, and how did Britain pay for it? Taxing Colonial Africa explores a source of funds much neglected in research on the financial structure of the Empire, namely revenue raised in the colonies themselves. Requiring colonies to be financially self-sufficient was one of a…

Explore

Topics

Genres

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Taxing Colonial Africa as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Ewout Frankema

Author

This book focuses on the financial structure of the British Empire in Africa.

It traces how fiscal systems evolved in line with the two central aims of colonial rule: maintaining law and order on the cheap and promoting export production.

The book shows how efforts by colonial states to balance their budgets influenced their relationships with local elites as well as the imperial government.

Gardner uses quantitative data on public revenue and expenditure as well as qualitative archival records to follow the development of fiscal policies in British Africa from the beginning of colonial rule through the first years of…

From Ewout's list on the global rise of fiscal states.