Review
'This strikes me as an absolutely brilliant book. It is wonderfully readable, profoundly fascinating, and admirably scholarly. It should appeal not only to the great and rising generation of historians of southern Africa, but also to historians with much wider interests. Namibia has a peculiarly distinctive appeal for being both part of the tradition of South African history, and also distinctive from that tradition ... To a reader who is not an expert on Namibia the book is elegantly illuminating.' - David Birmingham, Professor of Modern History, University of Kent at Canterbury '... an exceptional contribution to Herero historicity... demonstrates a qualitative approach to the sensibilities and aspirations of the Herero leadership in this most poignant epoch of their history.' - Lawrence Flint in African Affairs 'What a splendid monograph Gewald has given us!' - Kenneth Wilburn in African Studies Review
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
This study describes the manner in which the Herero of Namibia struggled to maintain control of their own freedom in the face of advancing German colonial control. It illustrates how the Herero-German war destroyed Herero society, but it re-emerged and adapted to colonialism. The study ends in 1923 when the death and funeral of Samuel Maharero - first paramount of the Herero and then resistance leader - was the catalyst that brought the disparate groups of Herero together to establish a single unitary Herero identity.
