A quick internet search for books on, or about, Uganda brings up an eclectic mix. Despite the average bookshop in Kampala not carrying a huge number of books about the country there is a wealth of information and collections online. But there’s no need to spend hours scouring the internet for your next Uganda read – we’ve taken some of the hard work out of it for you by compiling a list here.
First, a couple of caveats…
There is a huge bias in this list toward what can be found online. A great number of wonderful Ugandan authors are only able to publish in the country, if at all. Check back in just a couple of weeks and we’ll give you the scoop on where you can find the best of Ugandan authors in bookshops near you.
There are a number of books that span several of the categories under which the books are grouped. Some are both memoirs and history but are listed only under one. Within each category books are not listed in any specific order. Sorry.
There are a LOT of people who have turned their dissertation, or academic thesis, into a book. With no offense intended toward the amazing and immense effort they have undertaken these books are generally exceptionally boring. (Any time the word ‘bifurcated’ is used to describe a book it’s probably best to skip it). So we have skipped a vast number of these books for the sake of space. And remaining awake.
If you find yourself interested in finding out more, The National Book Trust of Uganda can be found at: http://www.nabotu.or.ug/ and it has all sorts of information about Ugandan authors and even a few digital titles. Each year they sponsor a book week and issue the annual Uganda National Literary Award.
The Ugandan Women Writers’ Association can be found at: http://www.femriteug.org/. Also, Ranker.com maintains a list of famous Ugandan authors: http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-authors-from-uganda/reference
If you get to the end and found that we missed your favourite then send us a message on Facebook and let everyone know what it is: https://www.facebook.com/theUgandaGuide
We hope that in this list you’ll find inspiration for your next read, or your next book club read. And, much like Uganda itself, within each category you’ll find something for everyone – comedy, tragedy, beauty and truth. Happy reading!
Children:
- The Bush, by Bernard Ashley
- Hare And Hornbill, by Okot p’Bitek
Fiction:
- Abyssinian Chronicles, by Moses Isegawa
- Feast of the Nine Virgins, by Jameela Siddiqi
- Kahawa, by Donald E. Westlake
- Footprints of the Outsider, by Julius Ocwinyo
- Bombay Gardens, by Jameela Siddiqi
- Snakepit: A Novel, by Moses Isegawa
- The Deadly Ambition, by Glaydah Namukasa
- The Last King of Scotland, by Giles Foden
- The Gravity of Sunlight, by Rosa Shand
- Tears of Hope. A Collection of Short Stories by Ugandan Rural Women, by Felix Chami
- The Hailstorm Feather, by Peter Alele
- Waiting: A Novel of Uganda’s Hidden War, by Goretti Kyomuhendo
- The Trouble Causer, by Solomon Kabushenga
- Gifts of Harvest, by Violet Barungi (Editor) – short story anthology
- Child of Dandelions, by Shenaaz Nanji
- War Brothers, by Sharon E. McKay
- Of Saints and Scarecrows, by Ulysses C. Kibuuka
- For the Fairest, by Ulysses C. Kibuuka
- The Invisible Weevil, by Mary Karooro Okurut
- The Night Of Knives, by Jon Evans
- White Teeth, by Okot p’Bitek
Memoirs:
- Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana
- Elizabeth of Toro: The Odyssey of an African Princess: An Autobiography, by Elizabeth Nyabongo
- The Impenetrable Forest: My Gorilla Years in Uganda, by Thor Hanson
- The Lion’s Eye: Seeing in the Wild, by Joanna Greenfield
- Through Some Miracle Not Yet Clear to Me: The Nightmare of Living Under the Dictatorship of Idi Amin…and Surviving, by Vincent Musaalo
- The Making of The African Queen, or: How I went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and almost lost my mind, by Katharine Hepburn
- Child Soldier: Fighting For My Life, by China Keitetsi
- A Visit from the Leopard: Memories of a Ugandan Childhood, by Catherine Mudibo Piwang
Worst Date Ever by Jane Bussmann - Mzungu: A Notre Dame Student in Uganda, by Michael Sweikar
- The Price of Stones: Building a School for My Village, by Twesigye Jackson Kaguri
- First Comes Love, then Comes Malaria: How a Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and A Third World Adventure Changed My Life, by Eve Brown-Waite
Travel:
- The 6th Bradt Guide, Uganda, by Phillip Briggs and Andrew Roberts
- Lonely Planet East Africa, by Mary Fitzpatrick, Tim Bewer, and Matthew Firestone
- Uganda Handbook, 2nd Edition, by Mike Hodd and Angela Roche
History:
- White Pumpkin, by Denis Hills
- Uganda Since Independence: A Story of Unfulfilled Hopes, by Phares Mutibwa
- The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Does Not Forget: Murder and Memory in Uganda, by Andrew Rice
- Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, by Mahmood Mamdani
- Kakungulu & Creation of Uganda: 1868-1928, by Michael Twaddle
- Museveni’s Long March: From Frelimo to the National Resistance Movement, by Ondoga O. Amaza
- You Have Been Allocated Uganda, by Alan Forward
Places & People:
- Uganda: The Land and Its People by Godfrey Mwakikagile
- Tribe, The Hidden History of the Mountains of the Moon, by Tom Stacey
- The Mountain People, by Colin M. Turnbull
- A History of the Kingdom of Nkore in Western Ugandat to 1896, by Samwiri Rubaraza Karugire
- Pale Souls Abroad and Other Tales, by Ulysses C. Kibuuka
- Bunyoro: An African Kingdom, by John Beattie
Northern Uganda & LRA:
- The Wizard of the Nile: The Hunt for Africa’s Most Wanted, by Matthew Green
- Aboke Girls by Els De Temmerman
- Nightmare Along the River Nile: Abducted by the LRA, by Suzanna E. Nelson
- The Night Wanderers: Uganda’s Children and the Lord’s Resistance Army, by Wojciech Jagielski
- Stolen Angels: The Kidnapped Girls of Uganda, by Kathy Cook
- First Kill Your Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army, by Peter Eichstaedt
- Living with Bad Surroundings: War, History, and Everyday Moments in Northern Uganda, by Sverker Finnstrom
- Man with a Lobelia Flute, by Denis Hills
- Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children, by Faith J.H. McDonnell
Politics:
- Uganda: Tarnished Pearl of Africa, by Thomas Ofcansky
- Developing Uganda, by Holger Bernt Hansen, Michael Twaddle
- Political Evolution and Democratic Practice in Uganda 1952-1996, by Jim Ocitti
- Uganda Now: Between Decay & Development, by Holger Bernt Hansen, Michael Twaddle
- Genocide by Denial: How Profiteering from HIV/AIDS Killed Millions, by Peter Mugyenyi
- Song of Lawino & Song of Ocol, by Okot p’Bitek
- Developing Uganda, by Holber Bernt Hansen
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