Crossing the Zambezi
This is the story of 150 years of conflict and contested claims over control and access to the waters and banks of the River Zambezi, one of Africa's longest and most important rivers. This book is a history of claims to the Zambezi, focussed on the stretch of the river extending from the Victoria Falls downstream into Lake Kariba, which today constitutes the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is a story of150 years of conflict over the changing landscape of the river, in which the tension between the Zambezi's 'river people' and more powerful others has been central. The Zambezi is one of Africa's longest and most important rivers - securing access to its waters and control over its banks, traffic and commerce were crucial political priorities for leaders of precolonial states no less than their colonial and postcolonial successors. The book is about the ways in which the course of the Zambezi has shaped history, its shifting role as link, barrier or conduit, the political, economic and cultural uses of the technological projects that have transformed the landscape, and their legacies in the conflicts of today. By investigating how the claims made today by Zambezi 'river people' relate to longer history of claims and appropriations, the book contributes to long-standing debates over the relationship between geography and history, landscape and power. JOANN MCGREGOR is a Lecturer in Geography at University College London
Under African Skies
Spanning a wide geographical range, this collection features many of the now prominent first generation of African writers and draws attention to a new generation of writers. Powerful, intriguing and essentially non-Western, these stories will be welcome by an audience truly ready for multicultural voices. With contributions from: Amos Tutuola (Nigeria)Camara Laye (Guinea)Birago Diop (Senegal)Sembene Ousmane (Senegal)Lu穩s Bernardo Honwana (Mozambique)Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Kenya)Tayeb Salih (Sudan)Es'kia Mphahlele (South Africa)Grace Ogot (Kenya)Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana)Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)Bessie Head (South Africa/Botswana)Similih M. Cordor (Liberia)Ren矇 Philombe (Cameroon)Tijan M. Sallah (Gambia)Ken Saro-Wiwa (Nigeria)Don Mattera (South Africa)Yvonne Vera (Zimbabwe)V矇ronique Tadjo (Ivory Coast)Ben Okri (Nigeria)Alexander Kanengoni (Zimbabwe)Mzamane Nhlapo (Lesotho)Steve Chimombo (Malawi)Sindiwe Magona (South Africa)Nuruddin Farah (Somalia)Mandla Langa (South Africa)
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o
Extensive use has been made of Ngugi's Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary This interpretation of the work of Ngugi wa Thiong'o discusses his philosophy, writing style, social and political focus, and ultimate vision and aspirations. Each work of fiction is examined in depth, and there is an evaluation of Ngugi's standing as a writer and social figure. Separate chapters cover each of Ngugi's novels, from The River Between and Weep Not, Child to Matigari, as well as his drama and short stories. There is alsoan examination of his social commentaries in the popular press, to which the early formation of his ideological position can be traced. Kenya: EAEP
Reading Chinua Achebe
Analysis of the writings of Chinua Achebe aimed at students of literature. Simon Gikandi has set out to reveal '...the very nature of [Achebe's] creativity, its prodigious complexity and richness...its paradoxes and ambiguities. This is scholarship of real stature and supersedes all other studies of Achebe's writing. It comes at a good time. Achebe's literary reputation is equal to that of any living author and a substantial critical canon has been established. - G.D. Killam, Professor of English, University of Guelph Kenya: EAEP
