Southern Africa

The story of the world's second-largest continent is as intricate as it is vast. Starting with prehistory and the fossils left behind in Ethiopia by the earliest humans, this book captures a narrative that traverses great ancient civilizations, from the Kingdom of Aksum to the empires of West Africa and sultanates of the East, and explores history-defining events such as the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the liberation of Nelson Mandela.

The Rhodesian Bush War (1964–1979) was a brutal and protracted guerrilla conflict that ultimately led to the end of white minority rule in Rhodesia and the birth of Zimbabwe. This comprehensive yet concise book takes you through the key events and figures that shaped this war, providing a detailed look into one of Africa’s most significant liberation struggles.

This Ndebele language course introduces learners to a significant Southern African language, spoken by communities in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Ndebele, a Bantu language, is part of the Nguni language group, alongside Zulu, Xhosa, and Swati. With a strong oral tradition and expressive style, Ndebele holds cultural importance, reflecting the traditions, values, and perspectives of its speakers.

This is a simple five-session language course for learning key words and phrases in Sesotho. Sesotho, also known as Southern Sotho, is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Lesotho and South Africa. The language has a rich history, deeply intertwined with the history of the Basotho people. It was standardized in the 19th century by Christian missionaries, who developed a written form using the Latin alphabet.

The Boer War was the defining conflict of South African history and one of the most important conflicts in the history of the British Empire. Naturally, complicated geopolitics underscored it, going back centuries. In fact, the European history of South Africa began with the 1652 arrival of a small Dutch flotilla in Table Bay, at the southern extremity of the African continent, which made landfall with a view to establishing a victualing station to service passing Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) ships.

Frederick Courteney Selous (1851-1917) was a British explorer, hunter, and conservationist. In this work, The Lion in South Africa, he describes his numerous encounters with wild lions and notes that as far back as the 1890s, lion numbers were shrinking from overhunting.