Imperato PJ (1998) Quest for the Jade Sea: Colonial Competition around an East African Lake. Boulder, CO: Westview Press

This review examines Pascal James Imperato’s Quest for the Jade Sea: Colonial Competition around an East African Lake (Westview Press, 1998), a historical analysis of nineteenth-century European rivalries surrounding Lake Rudolf - now Lake Turkana - on the Kenya–Ethiopia border. Drawing on explorers’ publications, letters, and diplomatic reports, Imperato reconstructs the geopolitical ambitions of Britain, France, Italy, Russia, and Austria-Hungary in East Africa and their encounters with Menelik II’s Ethiopia. The book’s strength lies in its meticulous archival research and vivid narrative of exploration and cartographic expansion. Yet its predominantly Eurocentric approach leaves limited space for African agency and postcolonial reflection. By combining historical geography with political and diplomatic history, Quest for the Jade Sea contributes to understanding colonial competition and the formation of international relations in the Horn of Africa. The review highlights Imperato’s work as a valuable resource for scholars of African history, international politics, and colonial studies.