Book excerpt: This book discusses the relationship between politics and power in East Africa from a historical perspective. The author examines how the exercise and contestation of political power and the role of leadership have played themselves out within the various ethnic communities, and at country and regional levels. He considers the aspects of culture, religion, capital, power and the state. The accumulated evidence is used to explain the character of community and regime politics in the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras. In all, the work provides compelling historical rationale for the present crisis of the African state, all the while arguing that the purpose of the political process should be social justice, and that social commitment is a prerequisite for effective leadership and economic and political stability.