Mark Anderson Writes

In the grand theater of history, some nations grab opportunity by the throat. Others look it dead in the eye… and vote 59% against it. On 27 October 1922, the white settlers of Southern Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) did exactly that. In a referendum, they were offered the chance to join the newly formed Union of South Africa as its fifth province. The South African government, under Prime Minister Jan Smuts, rolled out the red carpet with generous terms: parliamentary seats, financial grants of up to £500,000 a year for a decade, railway nationalization, and protection of land and mineral rights. It was, by any measure, an incredibly favorable deal. They said no. 59.4% voted for “responsible self-government” instead. And in that single vote, they committed what I argue is the single greatest fumble of the bag in modern world history. The Bag They Dropped Imagine being handed the keys to one of the most resource-rich, strategically located, and economically vibrant unions on the plane...

Tohwechipi Zharare aka Chibhamubhamu "The Gun" In the collective memory of many Zimbabweans, the fall of the mighty Rozvi Empire is often reduced to one tragic moment: the gruesome death of Mambo Chirisamhuru (also known as Chirisamhuru II or Chilisamhuru). In around 1835–1836, Queen Nyamazana and her Swazi-Nguni forces stormed the sacred Rozvi stronghold of Ntabazikamambo. As the invaders overran the royal capital, the fighting turned savage. According to oral traditions preserved among Rozvi descendants, Chirisamhuru realised that capture was inevitable. Fearing ritual torture, mutilation, or a slow execution at the hands of the conquerors, the ageing Mambo chose to throw himself from the mountain top to his death rather than be taken alive. In other accounts, he was seized during the chaos, brought before Queen Nyamazana and skinned alive. His body was left amid the smouldering ruins as Nyamazana’s warriors burned the royal enclosures and looted everything of value. The on...