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Book Review : The Shona and their Neighbours by DN Beach

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 The book the Shona and their Neighbours by DN Beach is almost like a sequel to his other book the Shona and Zimbabwe 900-1850. Shona and their Neighbours   summarises most of the things covered in the first book but it does look at the history of the Shona after colonisation and post colonisation. What I learnt from this book is that the rivalry between the Shona and the Ndebele has been exaggerated. DN Beach believes Rhodesian propagandists embellished the Ndebele raids on the Shona. It was in the Rhodesians interests to portray the Shona as helpless cowards who were saved from extinction at the hands of the brutal Ndebele by the white colonialists. DN Beach illustrates that many Shona chose to be independent from Ndebele and refused to pay tribute. The Muzhuzha village is one example of Shona people who were successful at beating back the Ndebele warriors. The book shows that the Shona were not peaceful people who happened to be victims of the violent Ndebele. The Shona also fought
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Book Review : The Shona and Zimbabwe 900-1850 by DN Beach

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 So I finally got my hands on the book The   Shona and Zimbabwe by DN Beach. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Shona history. In fact, the book should be mandatory reading to school children. I learnt a lot of things that had never been taught to me in school.  I do not know much about DN Beach but the footnotes at the end of the book, show he undertook thorough research before writing the book. He uses archaeology, written history and a bit of oral tradition to weave together the historical narrative of the Shona people. As a white person, he did somehow remain fair and neutral. There was no patronising and biased approach to African history. He writes about Shona people with respect and the book is devoid of a condescending tone that is prevalent in many books about Africans written by Europeans. What I learnt about the Shona people is that they actually did not enter the plateau now called Zimbabwe from the north. Beach believes that the ancestors of the Shona pe
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Buy my books

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 Here is the list of the books I have written. They are available in hardbook, paperback and ebook on Amazon. Links below.  A Fool and his Crown   A young Prince inherits the crown and becomes king, but his folly leads to his downfall. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZ51CMS3 Fishers of Men (Street Gangs and Secret Societies) Alex is a black man and Alice is a white woman. They are from two different worlds. Alex is the son of Richard  Moore, a notorious drug dealer and gangster. Alice is the daughter of a racist white farmer. Despite their differences  they fall in love. However, Alice's father will do anything, including murder, to keep them apart. https://www.amazon.com/Fishers-Men-Street-Secret-Societies/dp/B0CRQCQ9JB/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=mark+anderson+fishers+of+men&qid=1705169499&s=books&sr=1-1 Josephine The goddess Gaia sends Josephine on a mission to convert the people to the religion of earth worship. https://www.amazon.com/Josephine-Goddess-Girl-Book-1-ebook/dp/B0C
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