Indian Doctors in Kenya, 1895-1940 - (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies) by A Greenwood & H Topiwala (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This pioneering book offers unique insights into the careers of Indian doctors in colonial Kenya. As such, it deepens and broadens modern understandings of the complex constitution of the British Empire. The British Empire, although ideologically racist, nevertheless relied upon staff of all nationalities and ethnicities. Ideas and practices were imported between various colonial dependencies as much as they evolved responsively to local conditions. The book highlights the complex ambiguities of Empire; advancing modern understandings of the British Empire as a linked, multi-centred global phenomenon, while also providing a case study that enriches local understandings of the practice of medicine in a racially segregated context. Chapters examine in turn the main possible career options for Indian medical graduates as well as setting out the racial and political context of colonial Kenya. An impressively large and varied source base has been consulted throughout resulting in startling new insights into the complex operation of western medicine in this racially segregated world. "--

Book Synopsis

This ground-breaking book offers unique insights into the careers of Indian doctors in colonial Kenya during the height of British colonialism, between 1895 and 1940. The story of these important Indian professionals presents a rare social history of an important political minority.

Review Quotes

"This monograph makes significant contributions to studies on the history of medicine, colonial history, African history, and diaspora studies. It offers a new lens into medical practice in the African colony and raises new ideas about the history of South-South global biomedical intervention." (Donna A. Patterson, American Historical Review, Vol. 122 (2), April, 2017)

"The authors wield an impressive command of the scholarly literature on colonial medicine, Kenyan history, and the Indian diaspora, but their thematic interests rarely stray far from the biographical trajectories and political and economic conditions of Indian doctors. ... Readers interested in colonial Kenya, the Indian diaspora, and of course colonial medicine will find several gems in this study. ... this is an authoritative study that will serve as a valuable reference for a host of overlapping readerships." (James R. Brennan, Journal of the History of Medicine, Vol. 71 (4), October, 2016)

"Anna Greenwood and Harshad Topiwala set out to detail the complex position of western-trained Indian doctors in Kenya from the late nineteenth century to 1940. ... the book offers a unique and important view into a group of elite individuals who struggled with their complex positions in an ever-changing and segregationist society and in turn offers us a new window into the various players that were involved in the colonial process." (Tiffany F. Jones, Social History of Medicine, Vol. 29 (3), August, 2016)

About the Author

Anna Greenwood is Assistant Professor in British Imperial History at University of Nottingham, UK. She has published widely on colonial medical history, and is particularly interested in the way racial ideologies have influenced medical practice. This is her second monograph, having previously published (as Crozier) Practising Colonial Medicine, The Colonial Medical Service in British East Africa (2007). She is also Editor and Contributor to (ed.) Beyond the State: The Colonial Medical Service in Africa (2015).

Harshad Topiwala is Honorary Research Fellow of History at the University of Kent, UK. He has held executive positions with Shell, and served as Director of NHS Boards in Kent and on the Kent Committee for Magistrates. He is currently a member of the University of Kent Council.