The Land Wars: The Dispossession of the Khoisan and Amaxhosa in the Cape Colony Contributor(s): Laband, John (Author) |
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ISBN: 1776094999 ISBN-13: 9781776094998 Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa OUR PRICE: $16.65 Product Type: Paperback Published: October 2020 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Africa - South - Republic Of South Africa - Political Science | Colonialism & Post-colonialism |
Physical Information: 1.2" H x 6" W x 9.2" (1.00 lbs) 356 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Perhaps the most explosive issue in South Africa today is the question of land ownership. The central theme in this country's colonial history is the dispossession of indigenous African societies by white settlers, and current calls for land restitution are based on this loss. Yet popular knowledge of the actual process by which Africans were deprived of their land is remarkably sketchy. This book recounts an important part of this history, describing how the Khoisan and Xhosa people were dispossessed and subjugated from the time that Europeans first arrived until the end of the Cape Frontier Wars (1779-1878). The Land Wars traces the unfolding hostilities involving Dutch and British colonial authorities, trekboers and settlers, and the San, Khoikhoin, Xhosa, Mfengu and Thembu people - as well as conflicts within these groups. In the process it describes the loss of land by Africans to successive waves of white settlers as the colonial frontier inexorably advanced. The book does not shy away from controversial issues such as war atrocities on both sides, or the expedient decision of some of the indigenous peoples to fight alongside the colonizers rather than against them. The Land Wars is an epic story, featuring well-known figures such as Ngqika, Lord Charles Somerset and his son, Henry, Andries Stockenstr m, Hintsa, Harry Smith, Sandile, Maqoma, Bartle Frere and Sarhili, and events such as the arrival of the 1820 Settlers and the Xhosa cattlekilling It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand South Africa's past and present. |