Richard Dale

Historical dictionary of the Republic of Botswana

The idea of an historical dictionary relating to a country appears to be a good one. At the flick of a page one can find the relevant information on a particular subject without having to consult several reference books and wade through a lot of information that is not wanted. It is however very difficult to divide historical from current and much of the information given in this book of an economic and biographical nature is already out of date. More recent facts and figures can be found in the large international annual reference books available in any library. The editor of this series of African historical dictionaries states in his foreword that the history of each of the surprisingly large number of ethnic groups in Botswana is described, but this does not appear to be the case. The eight main Tswana tribes have sizeable entries and useful lists of chiefs but there are no entries for the Kalanga, Khurutse, Hurutse, Kgalagari, Yei, Mbukushu and Zezuru. The towns and villages are also rather scantily described with emphasis more on their present status than past history and one would have thought Shoshong would have merited a separate entry. tn religious matters there is also a strange imbalance. The Anglican Church gets a separate entry and the bishop a cross-reference but the Catholic Church gets nothing at all. In the entry on the London Missionary Society there is no mention of Moedirig College and the missionaries, Lloyd and Willoughby, do not have entries although they are mentioned in the introduction. The statement on p. 125 that Anglicans, Congregationalists, Methodists and Presbyterians have united to worship as a single congregation is inaccurate/ It should refer to Trinity Church, Gaborone, not the country as a whole where denominational differences are verv distinct. Of the few Setswana terms included it seems rather strange to put in bojalwa, (a traditional beer) arid leave out bogadi (bride-wealth) bogwera (initiation for men) and mephato (regiments) . This is not, however, a long book and when selection is necessary it will to a large extent be subjective and reflect the authors own knowledge and interests. It is clear that much work has gone into compiling the book and the bibliographical commentary and the authors bibliography at the end, arranged under subject headings, provide an excellent guide to those who wish to read further. Helpful too are the lists of resident commissioners and high commissioners with the latters varying titles. This is a book that will be useful both to university students and members of the public and I hope it will be available for purchase in Botswana.

Monarch of all I survey : Bechuanaland diaries, 1929-37

These diaries are a candid record of eight years of triumph and frustration in the reform and development of an African colony. They also reflect wider events: the struggle between British imperialism and Afrikaner nationalism in South Africa, the impact of the depression and the shadow of the coming war. North America: Lilian Barber Press; Botswana: Botswana Society