Written collectively by a group of history experts unter the guidance of the Institute of Curriculum Development
"This book picks up East African history from where Section One of Secondary History Sections One and Two - Institute of Education, Secondary History Sections One and Two: The Development of East African and Other African Societies up to the 19th Century, Dar es Salaam University Press, 1983 - ends. It starts by surveying the social, political and economic set-up of the different East African societies by 1850. The rest of the book shows how during and after the second half of the nineteenth century the history was influenced by the development of the capitalist mode of production." -- (Introduction)
"This book contains two sections. Section One is the revised version of Secondary History Book 1: Development of East African Societies up to the 19th century. Section Two is the revised version of Secondary History Book 2: Development of [other] African Societies up to the 19th century. Both titles werde produced as mimeographs by the Institute of Education in 1978 and 1979 respectively." -- (Introduction)
"A History of East Africa up to the nineteenth century results from long-felt need for a handy textbook within easy reach of Form One students and their teachers. The book based on the History Syllabus for Secondary Schools, Form I-IV, issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1997. It is a revised version of section I of the work by the Institute of Curriculum Development (now Tanzania Institute of Education) titled: Secondary History Book One: The Development of African Societies up to the Nineteenth Century, published by the Dar es Salaam University Press in 1981." -- (Preface)