Beginning in the late 1930s, a crisis in colonial Gusiiland developed over traditional marriage customs. Couples eloped, wives deserted husbands, fathers forced daughters into marriage, and desperate men abducted women as wives. Existing historiography focuses on women who either fled their rural homes to escape a new dual patriarchy-African men backed by colonial officials-or surrendered themselves to this new power. "Girl Cases: Marriage and Colonialism in Gusiiland, Kenya 1890-1970" takes a new approach to the study of Gusii marriage customs and shows that Gusii women stayed in their homes to fight over the nature of marriage. Gusii women and their lovers remained committed to traditional bridewealth marriage, but they raised deeper questions over the relations between men and women.

During this time of social upheaval, thousands of marriage disputes flowed into local African courts. By examining court transcripts, "Girl Cases" sheds light on the dialogue that developed surrounding the nature of marriage. Should parental rights to arrange a marriage outweigh women's rights to choose their husbands? Could violence by abductors create a legitimate union? Men and women debated these and other issues in the courtroom, and Brett L. Shadle's analysis of the transcripts provides a valuable addition to African social history.

A bold and innovative social history, The Seed Is Mine concerns the disenfranchised blacks who did so much to shape the destiny of South Africa. After years of interviews with Kas Maine and his neighbors, employers, friends, and family - a rare triumph of collaborative courage and dedication - Charles van Onselen has recreated the entire life of a man who struggled to maintain his family in a world dedicated to enriching whites and impoverishing blacks, while South Africa was tearing them apart.

“If ever one wondered whether the life of a single man could illuminate a century, [this] brilliant biography … proves the point.” — Carmel Schrire, The Boston Globe

“An epic … [that] tells of the loss of human potential generated by a politics that surrendered generosity and openness to self-interest and bigotry. It reveals the way an ordinary man can survive with dignity in such a world.” — Vincent Crapanzano, the New York Times

“A magnificent book [with] implications beyond its modest claims … This remarkable story compels foreboding but also kindles hope, for it shows the extraordinary courage of 'ordinary' men under severe difficulties.” — Eugene Genovese, Emory University

“[Van Onselen] teases out the subtleties of the paternalistic relationships between rural whites and blacks which gave rise to real friendships but also to much betrayal, anger, and humiliation . . . It is a monumental masterpiece of research, and a poetic evocation of the human spirit to survive … ” — Linda Ensor, Business Day

Muslims beyond the Arab World explores the tradition of writing African languages using the Arabic script 'Ajami and the rise of the Muridiyya order of Islamic Sufi in Senegal, founded by Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba Mbakke (1853-1927). The book demonstrates how the development of the 'Ajami literary tradition and the flourishing of the Muridiyya into one of sub-Saharan Africa's most powerful and dynamic Sufi organizations are entwined. It offers a close reading of the rich hagiographic and didactic written, recited, and chanted 'Ajami texts of the Muridiyya, works largely unknown to scholars. The texts describe the life and Sufi odyssey of the order's founder, his conflicts with local rulers and Muslim clerics and the French colonial administration, and the traditions and teachings he championed that shaped the identity and practices of his followers. In analyzing these Murid 'Ajami texts, Fallou Ngom evaluates prevailing representations of the movement and offers alternative perspectives. He demonstrates how, without the knowledge of the French colonial administration, the Murids were able to use their written, recited, and chanted 'Ajami materials as an effective means of mass communication to convey the personal journey of Shaykh Ahamadu Bamba, his doctrine, the virtues he stood for and cultivated among his followers: self-reliance, strong faith, the pursuit of excellence, nonviolence, and optimism in the face of adversity. This, according to Muslims beyond the Arab World, is the source of the surprising resilience, appeal, and expansion of Muridiyya.

This fascinating book, originally published in 1971, had it origins in daily journalism: a series of feature articles for the Pretoria News written between 1968 and 1970. Since then much has changed and that era now seems as remote as Kruger’s did in 1970. The original text is reprinted here with minimal editing. Though happily some still survive, many of the buildings pictured in this book have disappeared, such as the old Town Hall and the first Opera House. Gone too are many of the original pictures, some burnt in the fire that destroyed the main part of Munitoria and the city’s priceless archive. Kruger’s Pretoria provides the memory of a town long gone.

Electoral violence is a persistent problem in Zambia. This book is a case study of the usage, importance and impact of Public Diplomacy (PD) and Smart Power (SP) by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID/Zambia) and Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Zambia by means of collaborating with local NGOs - the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) and the Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) to help elections take place among poor, uneducated voters without resorting to violence. General and by-election periods have for more than five decades generated an increased intensity of electoral violence by hired impoverished youth political cadres who are increasingly becoming more daring and lethal, capable of damaging property, inflicting injuries on victims or causing death. There is a growing urgent need for special-tailored programmes that target instigators and perpetrators of electoral violence - more definitely needs to be done besides efforts by international organisations. It is up to citizens, local NGOs and especially political parties and responsible public institutions to act in order to limit electoral violence in Zambia.

The slow collapse of the European colonial empires after 1945 provides one of the great turning points of twentieth century history. With the loss of India however, the British under Harold Macmillan attempted to enforce a 'second' colonial occupation - supporting the efforts of Sir Andrew Cohen of the Colonial Office to create a Central African Federation. Drawing on newly released archival material, The Politics and Economics of Decolonization in Africa offers a fresh examination of Britain's central African territories in the late colonial period and provides a detailed assessment of how events in Britain, Africa and the UN shaped the process of decolonization. The author situates the Central African Federation - which consisted of modern day Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi - in its wider international context, shedding light on the Federation's complex relationships with South Africa, with US Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy and with the expanding United Nations. The result is an important history of the last days of the British Empire and the beginnings of a more independent African continent.

Resolving the African Leadership Challenge: Insight From History examines leadership in pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial modern Africa, exploring the origin of Africa's leadership challenge, and providing lessons to enhance leadership effectiveness. New ground is broken here as the author examines: The breadth of leadership issues across the entire continent The evolution of issues over time; from the pre-colonial era to the modern day The practical lessons that can be identified to resolve the leadership challenge A clear roadmap to achieve better leadership in Africa This interdisciplinary study provides a deeper understanding of the history of leadership in Africa, giving us key principles for today. It is essential reading for academic researchers, postgraduate students, and practitioners, seeking to adapt leadership theories to real-world local practice.