A History of Zimbabwe

A History of Zimbabwe
Author: Alois S. Mlambo
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 313
Release: 2014-04-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 1139867520

The first single-volume history of Zimbabwe with detailed coverage from pre-colonial times to the present, this book examines Zimbabwe's pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial social, economic and political history and relates historical factors and trends to recent developments in the country. Zimbabwe is a country with a rich history, dating from the early San hunter-gatherer societies. The arrival of British imperial rule in 1890 impacted the country tremendously, as the European rulers exploited Zimbabwe's resources, giving rise to a movement of African nationalism and demands for independence. This culminated in the armed conflict of the 1960s and 1970s and independence in 1980. The 1990s were marked by economic decline and the rise of opposition politics. In 1999, Mugabe embarked on a violent land reform program that plunged the nation's economy into a downward spiral, with political violence and human rights violations making Zimbabwe an international pariah state. This book will be useful to those studying Zimbabwean history and those unfamiliar with the country's past.

The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa

The Rise of Nationalism in Central Africa
Author: Robert I. Rotberg
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 396
Release: 1965
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780674771918

'Professor Rotberg has given students of African history a detailed and thoroughly documented study of the creation of Malawi and Zambia and much information on the formation and collapse of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. No other scholar has written so full and reliable an account of this recent and complex history. Rotberg had access to hitherto unused official archives and to private correspondence, sources that he supplemented by interviews with many of the European and African participants in the events of the last decades of a century of history. No one can read this story without being impressed by the dizzy speed of change in Africa.'-American Historical Review

A History of Malawi, 1859-1966

A History of Malawi, 1859-1966
Author: John McCracken
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Total Pages: 506
Release: 2012
Genre: History
ISBN: 1847010504

This title features a general history of Malawi, focusing mainly on the colonial period, when it was know as Nyassaland, but placing that period in the context of the pre-colonial past.

The Opened Curtain

The Opened Curtain
Author: Melvin Eugene Page
Publisher: Westview Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 1991-08-13
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN:

Voices from the Chilembwe Rising

Voices from the Chilembwe Rising
Author: John McCracken
Publisher: Fontes Historiae Africanae
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780197265925

The Chilembwe (or Nyasaland) Rising of January 1915 is one of the most fascinating episodes in the history of resistance in southern Africa. A small-scale event, suppressed within a matter of days, the Rising has been described by leading historian John Iliffe as the only significant rebellion in the whole of Africa prior to the First World War to be inspired by Christianity. Its leader, John Chilembwe, a Baptist minister trained in the United States, is now lauded in official circles as Malawi's first nationalist; his image is depicted on the country's banknotes. This book contains a comprehensive selection of the verbatim and written evidence presented to the Commission of Inquiry set up to examine the causes of the Rising. Witnesses included colonial officials, missionaries, and settlers, but also a substantial number of Malawians, among them Presbyterian ministers and teachers, government clerks, businessmen, chiefs, and headmen. Five European women, dramatically caught up in the Rising, add their own accounts of events; the Commission's report is published in full. Together, these testimonies are a fundamental source for an understanding of the causes and character of the Rising. More generally, they throw a revealing light on social and economic relations in early colonial Malawi. John McCracken provides extensive explanatory comments focusing, in particular, on the problematic nature of the sources. An appendix gives detailed notes on the individuals involved.

Historical Dictionary of Malawi

Historical Dictionary of Malawi
Author: Owen J. M. Kalinga
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 599
Release: 2012
Genre: History
ISBN: 0810859610

Malawi, established as the British protectorate of Nyasaland in 1891, gained its independence in 1964 and moved immediately into three decades of one-party rule. Since the mid-1990s, however, the country has held multi-party elections, as directed by its constitution, and President Bingu wa Mutharika is currently serving his second term. The fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of Malawi, now newly expanded and updated, covers a wide range of areas in Malawi history, including the rise and fall of state systems, religious and socio-political movements, the economy, environment, transportation, war, disease, and natural sciences. Author Owen J. M. Kalinga charts developments from pre-history to the post-Banda Malawi, from Tom Bokwito to James Sangala, and from the UMCA mission at Magomero to the second term of Bingu wa Mutharika's presidency, paying particular attention to the individuals, groups, communities, and forces that have molded this South African country. The dictionary itself contains over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on crucial aspects of Malawi history, and it is the most extensive single-volume reference work on Malawi available. In addition to the dictionary entries, Kalinga provides a chronology containing important dates and events and an informative bibliographical section organized by subject. The final part of the bibliography gives the reader a list of current and obsolete newspapers and periodicals related to Malawi, an ideal resource for further research. This newly updated edition is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Malawi.

From the Cape to Cairo : The First Traverse of Africa from South to North

From the Cape to Cairo : The First Traverse of Africa from South to North
Author: Ewart S. Grogan
Publisher: T. Nelson & Sons, Ltd.
Total Pages: 355
Release: 1900
Genre: Africa
ISBN:

From the Cape to Cairo : The First Traverse of Africa from South to North Hoping to see something of the other lioness or the lion I returned to the same place next day, and after examining the neighbourhood of the grass, pushed on still farther to the centre of the swamp. In this swamp the river spreads out into a vast network of channels, with a small central lagoon. Owing to the dryness of the season, it was possible to cross most of the channels, which were then merely mud-troughs, and to reach the lagoon, which was about four hundred yards wide. Here I witnessed a most extraordinary sight. About fifty hippo were lying about in the water, and on the banks. As the water was not in most parts deep enough to cover them, they presented the appearance of so many huge seals basking in the sun. They climbed in and out, strolled about, rolled in, splashing, shouting, blowing, and entirely ignoring my presence. After watching them for some time, I sent my boys to the far end to drive them past. The boys yelled and threw stones at them. Suddenly the hippo took alarm and rushed en masse for the narrow channel of the waterway. Down this they swarmed, kicking the water 30 ft. in the air, throwing their heads back, roaring, thundering, and crashing along, while I stood on the bank at twenty yards and took photographs, all of which unfortunately failed.

Malawian Migration to Zimbabwe, 1900–1965

Malawian Migration to Zimbabwe, 1900–1965
Author: Zoë R. Groves
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2020-11-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 3030541045

This book explores the culture of migration that emerged in Malawi in the early twentieth century as the British colony became central to labour migration in southern Africa. Migrants who travelled to Zimbabwe stayed for years or decades, and those who never returned became known as machona – ‘the lost ones’. Through an analysis of colonial archives and oral histories, this book captures a range of migrant experiences during a period of enormous political change, including the rise of nationalist politics, and the creation and demise of the Central African Federation. Following migrants from origin to destination, and in some cases back again, this book explores gender, generation, ethnicity and class, and highlights life beyond the workplace in a racially segregated city. Malawian men and women shaped the culture and politics of urban Zimbabwe in ways that remain visible today. Ultimately, the voluntary movement of Africans within the African continent raises important questions about the history of diaspora communities and the politics of belonging in post-colonial Africa.

Political Culture and Nationalism in Malawi

Political Culture and Nationalism in Malawi
Author: Joey Power
Publisher: University Rochester Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2010
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 158046310X

Inspired by the events leading up to the overthrow of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda's Life Presidency, this book explores the deep logic of Malawi's political culture as it emerged in the colonial and early post-colonial periods. It draws on archival sources from three continents and oral testimonies gathered over a ten-year period provided by those who lived these events. Power narrates how anti-colonial protest was made relevant to the African majority through the painstaking engagement of politicians in local grievances and struggles, which they then linked to the fight against white settler domination in the guise of the Central African Federation. She also explores how Dr. Banda (leader of independent Malawi for thirty years), the Nyasaland African Congress, and its successor, the Malawi Congress Party, functioned within this political culture, and how the MCP became a formidable political machine. Central to this process was the deployment of women and youth to cut across parochial politics and consolidate a broad base of support. No less important was the deliberate manipulation of history and the use of rumor and innuendo, symbol and pageantry, persecution and reward. It was this mix that made people both accept and reject the MCP regime, sometimes simultaneously. Joey Power is Professor of History at Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario.

Political Power and Colonial Development in British Central Africa 1938-1960s

Political Power and Colonial Development in British Central Africa 1938-1960s
Author: Alan H. Cousins
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2022-12-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000828719

This book focuses on the late colonial history of Zambia and Malawi, which between 1953 and 1963 were part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Although there were many links in their history and between their populations, the two territories (British protectorates under Colonial Office control) contrasted greatly in power structures, in their economies, and in their development. Europeans living in Northern Rhodesia, with a power base in the mining economy, were able to establish a dominant position in the territory after the Second World War. By the 1950s it looked as though they would have, with Southern Rhodesian Europeans, a long hegemony, gaining independence from Britain as a new Dominion, which would mean control over both Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland through the Federation. Thus, white ethnicity and ideology are essential factors in this book relating to the struggle for power from just before the Second World War up to the 1960s. However, crises in 1959 and 1960 led to the collapse of the Federation. A second focus is on issues of social and economic development. For Africans in Nyasaland, and in rural parts of Northern Rhodesia, there was a relatively weak economy in this period, a pattern of limited cash crop production, while many people became caught up in labour migration, subordinate to powerful European-dominated economic forces within southern Africa. This meant that colonial policies aimed at rural development were fundamentally flawed. The book also looks at the actual nature of rural economic change (as opposed to colonial policies) and discusses alternative visions of the future which were put forward. The argument is put that historians have often concentrated on the activities of the main nationalist movements in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, seeing them as bringing progress away from colonialism and towards independence. Here there is an attempt to draw out the complexities of life, and a variety of responses in the colonial situation, progress coming in a number of forms, but not always being achieved.