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Since Pauline Konga’s breakthrough performance at the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta, the world has become accustomed to seeing Kenyan women medal at major championships, sweep marathons, and set world records. Yet little is known about the pioneer generation of women who paved the way for Kenya’s reputation as an international powerhouse in women’s track and field. In Kenya’s Running Women: A History, historian and former professional runner Michelle M. Sikes details the triumphs and many challenges these women faced, from the advent of Kenya’s athletics program in the colonial era through the professionalization of running in the 1980s and 1990s. Sikes reveals how over time running became a vehicle for Kenyan women to expand the boundaries of acceptable female behavior. Kenya’s Running Women demonstrates the necessity of including women in histories of African sport, and of incorporating sport into studies of African gender and nation-building.
 

Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain, draws tens of thousands of tourists annually. Many attempt to climb its nineteen thousand feet snow-covered peak, an arduous trek that can span several days. Like the climbers who scale Everest, they are aided by local porters, cooks, and guides. But unlike Everest’s Sherpas, who have been extensively documented and profiled, the Chagga people of the Kilimanjaro mountain crews remain nearly anonymous. 

The Chagga people, who were the first settlers near Kilimanjaro, have been an essential part of the climbing industry that has developed since the colonial period. Kilimanjaro Porters and Guidesreveals the history of these porters, cooks, and guides. The book takes us from early Chagga settlement, through European colonialism and African independence, to today. It argues that while the Kilimanjaro climbing industry developed in a colonial context, local Tanzanian actors have played an integral role in determining access to and understanding of the mountain. They also have been central to climbers’ successes, mountain crew culture, and the evolution of key industry features—even as they have struggled in the postcolonial period.