In effect, this study of the boy scout movement in Africa serves as an avenue of entry to a much broader consideration of the African experience under British colonial rule. The scholarship is not merely sound; it is downright formidable. This is a highly original, first-rate work of social history. "Scouting, according to Parsons, could promote either empire loyalism or anti-colonial resistance, ambiguities that surface in his case studies.... A solid piece of history." (International History Review) "As Parsons shows, scouting was from the start as much an instrument of social protest as of social control." (South African Historical Journal)