Kenya stands at a crossroads in its history and heritage, as the nation celebrates its fiftieth anniversary of independence from Britain in 2013. At this important juncture, what parts of its history, including the Mau Mau uprising, do citizens and state wish to remember and commemorate and what is best forgotten or occluded? What does heritage mean to ordinary Kenyans, and what role does it play in building nationhood and forging peace and reconciliation? Focusing on the 1990s to the present, "Managing Heritage, Making Peace" is a timely exploration of the ways in which Kenyans are engaging with the past in the present, including such local initiatives as the community peace museums movement, local and national monuments and other notable commemorative actions. The authors show how Kenya is facing a continuing crisis over nationhood, heritage, memory and identity, which must be resolved to achieve social cohesion and peace.

Annie E. Coombes is Professor of Material and Visual Culture in the Department of History of Art and Screen Media at Birkbeck College, University of London. Her books include the award-winning History After Apartheid: Visual Culture and Public Memory in a Democratic South Africa (2003). Lotte Hughes is an historian of Africa and empire, with a special interest in Kenya, based at The Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies, The Open University. Her books include Moving the Maasai: A Colonial Misadventure (2006). Karega-Munene teaches anthropology and history at the United States International University, Nairobi. His research interests include human rights in relation to museums, dress and identity, and the construction and deconstruction of Kenyan ethnic identities.