Description
Book SynopsisThe Maji Maji war of 1905-07 in Tanzania was the largest African rebellion against European colonialism. This volume offers the fullest account of the war in the English language. Using oral accounts and little-used documentary evidence, contributors offer detailed histories of districts and localities as well as groups, such as African soldiers in the German army, elephant hunters and women, whose roles in war have been neglected. The contributors examine varieties of communication during wartime, including the circulation of rumor between Africans and Germans. They also offer new insight into the most famous aspect of the war – the use of medicine which was believed to provide invulnerability. The contributors are historians and an archaeologist recognized as authorities on Tanzanian history.
Trade Review'This impressive collection of essays attempts to supplement and broader the historical data on this important event, extending the period of the study of the war to as early as 1902 and as late as 1910, and broadening the area of conflict far beyond the area earlier studied, most notably far to the west of its purported centre of origins. The new and richly detailed information its contributors provide alters our earlier understanding of the war, not only in terms of new material, but important in terms of showing how much more complex and varied are the questions still to be asked about this conflict. Even our understanding of the name of the war is changed.' T.O. Beidelman in Anthropos 106 (2011)
