Kenneth Wilburn

‘Friend of the Native?’: James Sivewright and the Cape Liberal Tradition

Abstract For various humanitarian, religious, and material reasons, nineteenth-century Cape liberals of South Africa were renowned for progressive views on African rights. Typically, historians have excluded Highlander James Sivewright, who advanced communications technology, industry, politics and diplomacy in South Africa from 1878 to 1898, from the Cape liberal tradition. This article examines the political actions of powerful Cape liberals and Sivewright in comparative perspective during the apex of their shared political careers within three areas of contention regarding African rights: the Masters and Servants Act (1890), the Cape Franchise (1891–1892), and Glen Grey (1894). Evidence is considered within the context of the Marxist-Liberal debate that dominated South African historiography in the 1970s and 1980s. Sivewrights life in South Africa is also explored more generally in comparative perspective with Scots in major parts of the British Empire. Sivewright not only deserves to be included as a progressive within the Cape liberal tradition, he also belongs among global Scots who made significant contributions to the creation and maintenance of the British Empire.

A History of Sub-Saharan Africa (review)

as well as a map and visual illustrations demonstrating spatial relations. In at least one section, endnote numbers and notes are not in synch. There are noticeable inconsistencies in orthography and grammar, and the extensive use of passive sentence construction often leads one to question the source of statements. Texts in Amharic are sometimes presented without explanation and typographical errors abound. In addition, the author uses the Ethiopian calendar for chronology throughout the book, but the list in the glossary equating Ethiopian to Western months is misleading, because the days in the months do not correspond exactly. This is sure to create unnecessary confusion both for general readers and specialists attempting to chart unfolding events. Despite these shortcomings, the book provides useful documentation for future researchers on the beginnings and subsequent transformations of an important urban center. Although cities like Addis Ababa, Asmara, and Harar have had their share of scholarly and popular attention, this work, by its choice of focus and period, illuminates our understanding of the history of a provincial town. By this very orientation, the book fits in with similar scholarship on Africas urban past. Heran Sereke-Brhan School for International Training Study Abroad Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Cooper Allan D.. Ovambo Politics in the Twentieth Century. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2002. 350 pp. Map. Notes. Tables. Bibliography. Index.

and stories themselves lack the historical coloration that might bring them to life. Masons work is the result of assiduous research, careful thought, and honest dealing with his sources and reading. His is an important contribution to the study of Cape slavery and comparative slavery studies. Regrettably, the book has no bibliography, an annoying omission. Fred Morton Loras College Dubuque, Iowa

53.00. Paper.

history as significant as the creation of the Federation of the Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1953, which, decades later, crystallized resistance to European rule. This experience also led to the erosion of the power of the chiefs and pastoralists. This is an excellent study of Malawian participation in the First World War. It reinforces earlier examinations of colonial administrations and their exploitation of African peoples. It also broadens our understanding of the influence of the war and its impact on a whole society. In some instances, the book lacks adequate critical analysis, but one can only be impressed with the scope and the depth demonstrated by Melvin Page in The Chiwaya War. Bamidele A. Ojo Fairleigh Dickinson University Teaneck, New Jersey

The Caprivi Strip during the German Colonial Period, 1890 to 1914@@@Traditional Authority and Democracy in Southern Africa

For the want of a nation: Herero politics on the eve of colonization - the Herero succession dispute 1890-1894 - Samuel Maherero as Paramount Chief 1894-1896 - The curse of Kahimemua 1897-1903 - Ovita Ovia Zurn, Zurns war 1904-1908 - The histories of the Old Testament teach us 1905-1914 - This land is not yours, it is the property of America and the Herero 1915-1923 - Conclusion.

Herero Heroes: A Socio-Political History of the Herero of Namibia, 1890-1923

The struggle for supremacy between British imperialists and Boer republicans is a major component of nineteenth-century South African history. By the 1880s railways became economic and political factors in that struggle. Landlocked Transvaal Boers manipulated railway policies to break out of British territorial encirclement and gain access to a British-free port; Britons similarly used railway policies to maintain Boer dependency on British colonial ports.

Rails crossed : imperialists, republicans and Edward McMurdo 1883-1889

Abstract “Mr, Harry Currey tells me privately that Rothschilds have been in communication with Mr. Rhodes regarding the (railway) loan (to the Transvaal) … and Rhodes said he favoured it.” 1 Given the anti-Boer ambitions of Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of Great Britains Cape Colony, this was odd. Throughout the late 1880s and 1890s, imperialist Rhodes, drawing here, envisioning there, used private and public resources to sketch an encircled Transvaal — the Republican ox beleaguered by the British lion was his would-be imperial masterpiece. On the eve of the Rothschild Loan, floated primarily to connect the Transvaals goldfields with a non-British port, the two Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal were almost completely enclosed by British territory. Only directly east did the Transvaal share a border with a non-British dominion and port, Portuguese Mozambique and Lorenco Marques. Paul Kruger, the Transvaal President, tried to negotiate a customs and railway agreement or purchase of ...