Sara Paretsky's groundbreaking mystery series about Chicago private investigator V.I. Warshawski debuted in 1982 and is still going strong. As co-founder of Sisters in Crime (a worldwide organization supporting women writers), as a sought-after public speaker and as 2015 president of the Mystery Writers of America, Paretsky continues to open doors for other authors. This book is the first comprehensive reference work on Paretsky, providing an overview of the Warshawski novels and short stories, her other novels, a volume of collected essays, her anthologies and journalism. Special attention is paid to the character of Warshawski-the tough, street-smart detective who challenges stereotypical representations of women in crime fiction-and to the significance of the Chicago setting she inhabits. Paretsky's pioneering work beyond the page is covered. A guide to the scholarly and critical debates is included, along with discussion of media adaptations and references to key websites.

The idea that the period of social turbulence in the nineteenth century was a consequence of the emergence of the powerful Zulu kingdom under Shaka has been written about extensively as a central episode of southern African history. Considerable dynamic debate has focused on the idea that this period – the ‘mfecane’- left much of the interior depopulated, thereby justifying white occupation. One view is that ‘the time of troubles’ owed more to the Delagoa Bay Slave trade and the demands of the labour-hungry Cape colonists than to Shaka’s empire building. But is there sufficient evidence to support the argument? The Mfecane Aftermath investigates the very nature of historical debate and examines the uncertain foundations of much of the previous historiography.