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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Delighted to get this today. 'Sing for the Pro-Palestinian Students' consists of 26 essays composed by colleagues, students, & critics of my May 2026 commencement address here @UMich. It's publishing soon on Disobedience Press. Available here: disobediencepress.com/sing-for-pro...

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I'm glad to say that _A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda_ has been shortlisted for the Best Book prize of the African Studies Association @asanewsonline.bsky.social. Here's the announcement: africanstudies.org/awards-prize...

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I've just published an admiring obituary of the late historian John Iliffe in @theconversation.com. Prof. Iliffe was my colleague during the time I taught at Cambridge, and I learned a great deal from him. Requiem aeternam. theconversation.com/john-iliffe-...

theconversation.com

John Iliffe: the historian who changed how Africa’s past was understood

John Iliffe was interested in evidence and interpretation, not theoretical abstraction.

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

6/ John Iliffe, 1939 to 2026. Requiem aeternam.

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

5/ In 2004 I moved to Cambridge, where I had the pleasure of teaching alongside him. He was an outstanding teacher and an excellent lecturer. Altogether he trained 29 PhD students; many of them now occupy positions of importance in British and African universities.

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

4/ In the 1970s, having moved to Cambridge, he began to work on the history of demography in Africa. His 'The African Poor' (1987) won the best book prize of the African Studies Association. His 1995 book 'The Africans: a history of a continent' is in my view the best textbook on African history.

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

3/ While in Dar he read through the newly-opened archives of Tanganyika and published 'A Modern History of Tanganyika' in 1979. It is a work of astonishing erudition, and a half-century later, it sets the standard for writing about Tanzania's history.

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

2/ Under Nyerere's eye he taught at UDSM until 1971 alongside Walter Rodney, Immanuel Wallerstein, Terry Ranger, Isaria Kimambo and others. The photo above was made at his retirement conference in 2006. It shows Iliffe with Ranger, Fred Kaijage, John Lonsdale & others.

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Colleagues will be sorry to hear that historian John Iliffe has this morning passed away in Cambridge at age 87. Iliffe was a maker of the academic field of African history. He took up a post at the University of Dar es Salaam shortly after Tanganyika's independence. 1/

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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I urge people to read both what Derek Peterson actually said in his commencement speech -- the whole thing -- and what he says in this article responding to the controversy. www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news...

cbsnews.com

University of Michigan professor defends pro-Palestinian commencement remarks: "Michigan is not a finishing school"

"The idea that graduations should be apolitical is ridiculous," University of Michigan history professor Derek Peterson said as a follow-up to his graduation day remarks.

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Qasim Rashid, Esq. @qasimrashid.com · 04/05/2026

Professor Derek Peterson gave a commencement speech now being censored because it named Palestinian humanity. He celebrated Jewish, Black, and women students. The apology from the University of Michigan President came only for Palestinians. That’s not a coincidence. That’s policy.

qasimrashid.com

Universities Are Enabling America's Press Freedom Collapse

Professor Derek Peterson said nothing wrong. That’s exactly why the University of Michigan punished him

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

I am very pleased to have been elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The AAAS is a communion of scholars stretching back to the early days of the American republic. At a time when our rights at risk, it's an honor to join their company. www.amacad.org/new-members-...

Reposted by Derek R. Peterson

The Journal of African History @thejah.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Read Alicia C. Decker on Derek R. Peterson’s “A Popular History of Idi Amin’s #Uganda” (@yalepress.bsky.social) in the new #OpenAccess #FeaturedReview “Everyday People and the Making of #Authoritarianism”: cup.org/47o2Pn5

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Los Angeles Review of Books @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

"While his legacy means different things to them, they both take him more seriously than most who have written about him." Samuel Fury Childs Daly on two recent books on Idi Amin’s Uganda: lareviewofbooks.org/article/idi-ami…

The cover of A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda and Slow Poison

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Just dropped: a new podcast, in which I talk about my new book _A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda_ for Meena Ariagno's Global Civility project. Have a listen here. www.meenaglobal.com

meenaglobal.com

Meena Global®

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Tony McEnery @tonymcenery.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

I have just finished reading A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda by Derek Peterson - an excellent book. While the subject matter is, at times, grim, he really excels at weaving the lives of ordinary people (living in extraordinary times) into a more broadly themed narrative. Beautifully written.

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The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 19/07/2025

Ugandan President Idi Amin once suggested he replace Queen Elizabeth II as head of the Commonwealth, citing Britain's "collapsing economy" and the end of its empire. A look at how Amin positioned Uganda on the world stage: theconversation.com/idi-amin-mad... By Derek R. Peterson @umich.edu

theconversation.com

Idi Amin made himself out to be the ‘liberator’ of an oppressed majority – a demagogic trick that endures today

A new book delves into the tactics and people that propped up the brutal Ugandan dictator’s regime.

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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

My new book--A Popular History of Idi Amin's Uganda--publishes today! Based on newly-available government archives, the book shows why and how Amin's regime commanded popular support. It can be bought on paper or as an e-book here: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

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