The Great Treks: The Transformation of Southern Africa 1815-1854 / Edition 1

by Norman Etherington

Overview

The mass migration of the Boer farmers from Cape Colony to escape British domination in 1835-36 - the Great Trek - has always been a potent icon of Africaaner nationalism and identity. For African nationalists, the Mfecane - the vast movement of the Black populations in the interior following the emergence of a new Zulu kingdom as a major military force in the early 19th century - offers an equally powerful symbol of the making of a nation. With their parallel visions of populations on the move to establish new states, these two stories became part of divided South Africa’s separate mythologies, treated as unconnected events taking place in separate universes.

For the first time, in this groundbreaking book, accounts of both migrations are brought together and examined. In uniting these separate visions of African and Afrikaaner history, Norman Etherington provides a fascinating picture of a major turning point in South African history, and points the way for future work on the period.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780582315679
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/25/2001
Series:	Turning Points
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	394
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Norman Etherington has published widely on South African and Southern African history and politics. He has spent long periods travelling and working in South Africa. He lives in Australia where he is Professor of History at the University of Western Australia.

Table of Contents

Maps, Preface, Acknowledgments, Abbreviations, 1. Introduction, 2. Life in the heartland in the late eighteenth century, 3. Foreign invaders advance along the western panhandle, 4. The emergence of new leaders and state-builders, 5. Hardship, ambition and opportunity create new conflicts, 6. 'Mantatees', 'Matabele' and 'Fetcani', 7. Making contact with British authorities; getting guns and missionaries, 8. Confronting the British threat through diplomacy and war, 9. The coming of the Boer trekkers, 1836-8, 10. Adjusting to the presence of new forces in the heartland, 11. British officials intervene on the highveld, 12. Legacies, Further Reading, Index

Editorial Reviews

"No-one teaching South African history will be able to ignore this book"Australasian Review of African Studies "In The Great Treks Norman Etherington has done South African history a great conceptual and publishing service and this book will be a benchmark in the literature for a long time to come." Kleio vol. 34, 2002

From the Publisher