Book excerpt: Biographical research can illuminate imperial and colonial history. This is particularly true of Africa, where empires competed with one another and colonial society was characterised by rigid divisions. In this book, five biographical studies explore how, in the course of their lives, interpreters, landowners, students and traders navigated the boundaries between the various spaces of the colonial world. With a focus on African life worlds, the authors show the disruptions and constraints as well as the new options and forms of mobility that resulted from colonial rule. This book was originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth Studies.