Much of the historical debate surrounding the partition of Africa, the events that led up to it and its implications for the continent itself and for the rest of the world is so controversial that it is difficult to provide a coherent survey of the shifting theories of the last twenty years. In this pamphlet Dr MacKenzie attempts to do this, by sketching the historical background to the partition, surveying the events of the partition in the four main regions of Africa and then examining in turn the theories produced to explain the sequence of events.