This book details the devastating Mau Mau civil war fought in Kenya during 1950s and the legacies of that conflict for the post-colonial state. There were as many Kikuyu who fought with the colonial government as there were loyalists who joined the Mau Mau rebellion. Focusing on the role of those loyalists, the book examines the ways in which residents of the country's Central Highlands sought to navigate a path through the bloodshed and uncertainty of civil war. It explores the instrumental use of violence, changes to allegiances, and the ways in which cleavages created by the war informed local politics for decades after the conflict's conclusion.--Back cover.