Dedan Kimathi

About the book

The book chronicles Kĩmathi's life from his early years as a restless teacher in rural Nyeri to his transformation into a guerrilla commander, his capture in 1956, and his execution by hanging on 18 February 1957, at the age of 36.

The name Field Marshal Dedan Kĩmathi evokes memories of the Mau Mau war, if not the struggle for Kenya's independence in its entirety. Though a lot has been said and written about this enigmatic, larger-than-life figure, none comes close to this exposition. The book is the culmination of four and a half decades of relentless research into his exploits as a liberation leader.

Karimi sought firsthand information from people who rubbed shoulders with Kĩmathi at various stages of his life. He takes the reader from Kĩmathi's birth in a humble home to the moment he was hanged and buried in an unmarked grave, and offers new insight into the workings of the war for liberation in Kenya.

At the outset Kĩmathi is such an ordinary lad you can barely pick him out of the crowd. He cherishes his romance, and even fails to build a thingira, a bachelor's hut. Yet his progression as a flamboyant, dynamic, resolute, brilliant, and patriotic youth made him one of Kenya's most celebrated freedom fighters.