I'm glad to say that _A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda_ has been shortlisted for the Best Book prize of the African Studies Association @asanewsonline.bsky.social.

Here's the announcement:

africanstudies.org/awards-prize...

I've just published an admiring obituary of the late historian John Iliffe in @theconversation.com.

Prof. Iliffe was my colleague during the time I taught at Cambridge, and I learned a great deal from him.

Requiem aeternam.

theconversation.com/john-iliffe-...

Colleagues will be sorry to hear that historian John Iliffe has this morning passed away in Cambridge at age 87.

Iliffe was a maker of the academic field of African history. He took up a post at the University of Dar es Salaam shortly after Tanganyika's independence.

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I urge people to read both what Derek Peterson actually said in his commencement speech -- the whole thing -- and what he says in this article responding to the controversy. www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news...

Professor Derek Peterson gave a commencement speech now being censored because it named Palestinian humanity.

He celebrated Jewish, Black, and women students. The apology from the University of Michigan President came only for Palestinians.

That’s not a coincidence. That’s policy.

I am very pleased to have been elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The AAAS is a communion of scholars stretching back to the early days of the American republic. At a time when our rights at risk, it's an honor to join their company.

www.amacad.org/new-members-...

Read Alicia C. Decker on Derek R. Peterson’s “A Popular History of Idi Amin’s #Uganda” (@yalepress.bsky.social) in the new #OpenAccess #FeaturedReview “Everyday People and the Making of #Authoritarianism”:

cup.org/47o2Pn5

"While his legacy means different things to them, they both take him more seriously than most who have written about him."

Samuel Fury Childs Daly on two recent books on Idi Amin’s Uganda: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/idi-amin-slow-poison-popular-history-uganda-review/

Just dropped: a new podcast, in which I talk about my new book _A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda_ for Meena Ariagno's Global Civility project. Have a listen here.

www.meenaglobal.com

I have just finished reading A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda by Derek Peterson - an excellent book. While the subject matter is, at times, grim, he really excels at weaving the lives of ordinary people (living in extraordinary times) into a more broadly themed narrative. Beautifully written.

Ugandan President Idi Amin once suggested he replace Queen Elizabeth II as head of the Commonwealth, citing Britain's "collapsing economy" and the end of its empire. A look at how Amin positioned Uganda on the world stage: theconversation.com/idi-amin-mad... By Derek R. Peterson @umich.edu

My new book--A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda--publishes today! Based on newly-available government archives, the book shows why and how Amin's regime commanded popular support.

It can be bought on paper or as an e-book here:

yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...