This is an examination of the nature and objectives of conflict in the major states of Eastern Africa in the nineteenth century. It focuses on highland Ethiopia, on the interlacustrine area of Buganda and its neighbours, and on the area of central Tanzania from the south of Lake Victoria to Lake Tanganyika. RICHARD REID is Lecturer in African History at SOAS Published in association with The British Institute in Eastern Africa North America: Ohio U Press; Uganda: Fountain Publishers; Kenya: EAEP