The author follows the story of the squatters farming the land in the 'White Highlands' at first unused by the Europeans. After 1923 the white settlers demanded more labour from the squatters and began to restrict their use of the land for cultivation and animal husbandry until by the early 1940s most of the squatters livestock had gone. Kanogo traces the squatters' increasing poverty and disillusion and their involvement in Mau Mau, particularly that of the women.

North America: Ohio U Press; Kenya: EAEP

"'A first-rate piece of research and analysis... also very exciting. It is a social history of the Kikuyu squatters in the White Highlands, who became possibly the most important group in the composition of Mau Mau and thereafter, a most significant pressure group in the politics of decolonization, since it was their spontaneous action in occupying a number of settler farms which ensured the political necessity of the settlement schemes... it has intimate and detailed data on the everyday life of the squatters before the 1940s. It has some marvellous pictures of their ingenuity, establishing what was essentially a Kikuyu colony where there should only have been obedient farmworkers.' John Lonsdale, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge

'This is a provocative piece of work, which should interest several audiences. First... students of Kenyan history. Secondly... economic historians, especially those interested in labour history. Finally, from the comparative point of view ... those interested in the socio-economic bases of revolution.' Bethwell A. Ogot, Professor of History, Kenyatta University

'Dr Kanogo has followed the fortunes of these squatters... It is an amazing story... [she] proceeds to narrate the story of squatter involvement in the Mau Mau movement, in particular the female participation - the first time a Kenyan historian has actually done field work on Mau Mau instead of simply mouthing propaganda.' William R. Ochieng', Professor and Chairman of History Department, Kenyatta University"