• Author: Jeff Guy
• Publisher: Longman Group
• ISBN: 0-582-64686-3
• Price: £15.00

Review By : (unknown)

This book tells the story of the destruction of the material strength and political independence of an African society 100 years ago. Contemporary records of such events, usually dominated by those who initiated the conquest, shown in this instance conflicting accounts by supporters of Cetshwayo’s independent kingdom and by colonial officials influenced by the developing demands of capitalism. The author has tried to explain these contradictory interpretations of events and to construct a narrative, which moves from the homesteads of the Zulu kingdom to colonial Natal and the Cape to Victorian London and back to the battlefields of Zululand. Wherever possible Dr. Guy has allowed the African actors in the tragedy to speak for themselves: they were eloquent, well aware of attempts to suppress their voice and deeply concerned about the judgement of history. At the same time he has attempted to go beyond the prejudices and ideologies of the time and reveal something of the deeper historical forces behind these events – the inexorable drive to divert the surplus supporting one society and use it to serve the interests of another, intrusive, one.

Sunday 08th of J