Violence and Memory

Anyone who wants to understand Zimbabwe's current path to authoritarian rule would do well to begin with this richly-layered and thought-provoking study. -- Shula Marks * THE ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *
... a powerful indictment of the present through a longer historical lens. -- David Simon in LUCAS Bulletin
... should be compulsory reading for anybody wishing to begin or end an insurgency war. -- Jan-Bart Gewald * AFRICAN STUDIES REVIEW *
... an incisive, captivating, lucid and in-depth investigation of the relationships between anti-colonial resistance, nationalism, ethnicity and religion... This is a people's book - one that not only the people of Nkayi and Lupane will identify proudly with, but indeed all the people of Zimbabwe and the continent at large. It is a publication that should grace the bookshelves of discerning scholars of Africa and her history. -- Pathisa Nyathi * AFRICAN AFFAIRS *
This is a complex and fascinating book...revisionist history in the best sense of the term - challenging the orthodox view of an established historiography by bringing to light new data and subjecting it to fresh interpretation...the best account yet available of Zimbabwe's dreadful violence in the 1980s, and should be essential reading for all those interested in understanding the nature of the post-colony in Africa...In understanding violence, detail and context matter; and while social scientists may be frustrated that the authors of Violence and Memory have largely ignored social theories of violence, they will surely welcome the emphasis upon events and their gestation. This is an important book that should be widely read. -- David M. Anderson * JOURNAL OF MODERN AFRICAN STUDIES *