Perspectives on French Colonial Madagascar

This book is a vivid history of Madagascar from the pre-colonial era to decolonization, examining a set of French colonial projects and perceptions that revolve around issues of power, vulnerability, health, conflict, control and identity. It focuses on three lines of inquiry: the relationship between domination and health fears, the island’s role during the two world wars, and the mystery of Malagasy origins. The Madagascar that emerges is plural and fractured. It is the site of colonial dystopias, grand schemes gone awry, and diverse indigenous reactions. Bringing together deep archival research and recent scholarship, Jennings sheds light on the colonial project in Madagascar, and more broadly, on the ideas which underpin colonialism.

“The most interesting aspect of the book is the way it shows how individuals can turn out to play decisive parts in both the making of colonial politics and its application. … Jennings’s book is well-researched and an enjoyable read. It will inarguably prove valuable to scholars and students of colonialism and French history.” (Violaine Tisseau, The American Historical Review, Vol. 124 (2), April, 2019)“Jennings’s well-written study discusses the colony’s devastating sanitary crisis on the islands of Nosy Be, Nosy Komba, and Sainte-Marie (caused by malarial and typhoid fevers, dysentery, smallpox … . this book would be interesting to historians, anthropologists, and French teachers, and could be used as a reader in courses discussing France’s colonial history,which all too often focus solely on Algeria.” (Christa Jones, French Review, Vol. 92 (3), March, 2019)

Eric T. Jennings is Distinguished Professor of the History of France and the Francophonie at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is the author of several books on French colonial history, and has received a John Simon Guggenheim fellowship as well as grants from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.