With contributions from Malawian, Zambian, Zimbabwean, British and American historians this book takes a scholarly as well as eyewitness look at the 1959/60 State of Emergency in Nyasaland. A key turning point in the growth and triumph of Malawian nationalism the contributors examine the Emergency and its significance in the modern political history of Malawi and its central African neighbours.

There is a long history of Islam in Malawi, which precedes Christianity; and Muslims constitute about fifteen percent of the country's population. However Muslims and Islam in Malawi have until relatively recently remained low profile, and there has been little research or documentation of their history. This collection of essays traces the history of Muslim culture in Malawi, looking at for example: how Islam spread to Malawi within the context of the expansion of Islan in East Africa; how Islam developed; and how the Christian churches responded. Further contributions address Islam in Nyasaland in 1910; Kanyenda and the Swahili challenge; Mohammedanism and the Yaos in 1991; the Yao Tariqa and the Sukuti movements; the problems of Islamic education; and the growth of a political and commercial Muslim elite.