Author Description

Namibia gained its independence in 1990 after decades of struggle against South African rule. Before its battles with South Africa, the country spent years within the grip of German colonialism. In this book, the first general history of Namibia to be published in more than two decades, a celebrated historian and a renowned archaeologist provide fresh perspective on these events, as well as a detailed account of the country's precolonial period. The volume begins with an absorbing history of Namibia from earliest times to the arrival of German colonialism in the nineteenth century. Drawing on sources in English and German, the authors explore trajectories of migration, production, and power in the precolonial period, changes triggered by European expansion, and the dynamics of formal colonialism. They relate the full experience of German rule, including the genocide of 1904-1908, the wars of central and southern Namibia, and the fate of defeated Africans who were imprisoned in concentration camps. Final chapters discuss African nationalism, apartheid, and war between 1946 and 1990, and the development of Namibia in the two decades since independence. An invaluable introduction and resource, this volume reasserts Namibia's crucial role in the history of southern Africa and, with its rich insight and extensive bibliography, furthers responsible research on the country and the continent. --Book Jacket.