The Shona by Dn Beach
The Shona peoples of Africa are known to most non-Africans as the builders of the massively impressive fourteenth-century stone walls of Great Zimbabwe and creators of the great Mutapa state encountered by the Portuguese traders in the sixteenth century. In the last century they waged war against their neighbours, the Ndebele, and against the white settlers who created Rhodesia; today they form the majority of the population of modern Zimbabwe, one of the most economically successful of contemporary African states, though now facing most of the twentieth century's potentially catastrophic social and environmental problems. David Beach has brought to bear a lifetime's research in his study of the Shona and their neighbours the Ndebele, Gaza Nguni and others. In the almost total absence of early written sources he has linked the work of archaeologists, anthropologists and linguists, together with oral traditions, and documents from the fifteenth century onwards, to discuss the origins of these peoples, their geographical distribution and environment, their social structures and culture - together with the major influences upon them over two thousand years. In the final chapter the author draws from the historical record to bring fresh insights to modern Zimbabwe and its future.| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780631176787 |
| ISBN 10 | 0631176780 |
| Title | The Shona |
| Author | Dn Beach |
| Series | Peoples Of Africa S |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | John Wiley and Sons Ltd |
| Year published | 1993-12-06 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |