Black and White in Southern Zambia: The Tonga Plateau Economy and British Imperialism, 1890-1939, Vol. 21

Review
This book is about economic activity and how it changed from 1890 to 1939 in the Tonga Plateau in present-day Zambia. Archival sources, fieldwork including the gathering of oral history, published sources, and secondary literature were all a part of the preparation of this study. Vickery's command of the literature is impressive. In recounting the history of the region, he attempts to place what happened in the larger context. He suggests the applicability of some economic theories of behavior and rejects other ideas about the role of the African peasant in an imperial economy. ... The differences in attitudes and values between the time before 1918 and today are substantial. What was acceptable behavior toward Africans in the early 1900s is not now. For example, the alienation of the African land by the Europeans would appear wrong to many today. ... The book is a well-written and good account of economic change caused by the presence of Europeans in a small part of Africa. It has notes at the end of each chapter, a bibliography, and an index. While the book is of certain interest to scholars of southern Africa, it has a wider appeal as a study of economic change because of pressure from the outside. Undergraduate and graduate collections.Choice


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