Stanford Historian Steven Press Featured in Stanford News for Research on the 'European Scramble for Africa'

Steven Press, an assistant professor of history at Stanford, sat down with the Office of International Affairs to discuss the research that inspired his first and forthcoming book, Rogue Empires: Contracts and Conmen in Europe’s Scramble for Africa.

"From as far back as we can remember, owning land has been a path to wealth and power. But what about owning a government and the right to control its territory? Is that, too, a path to wealth and power, and for whom? Steven Press uncovers an overlooked method of empire-building in the late 1800s that saw Europe make an indelible mark on Africa. The book spotlights European adventurers who left the safety of their countries and endured treacherous conditions for a stake, not just in land ownership, but in sovereignty of territories overseas." Read more in the Stanford News: Stanford historian follows trail of mercenary European adventurers embarking on 'Scramble for Africa'

Press is using this research as the basis for two courses he is teaching this spring, The European Scramble for Africa: Origins and Debates and How to Start Your Own Country: Sovereignty and State-Formation in Modern History.