Archival Significance
Written by Terence Ranger, one of the most significant historians of Zimbabwe of the twentieth century, this comparative study, part of the Perspectives on Southern Africa series, remains a foundational text in the historiography of peasant participation in the liberation war.
Institutional Context
Published jointly by Zimbabwe Publishing House, Harare, for the Southern African edition, and James Currey, London, for the UK edition, reflecting the standard dual-market publishing arrangement for serious Zimbabwean historical scholarship of the period.
Content Summary
Comparatively examines the relationship between peasant political consciousness and guerrilla mobilisation during Zimbabwe’s liberation war.
Research Utility
A foundational text for researchers of the liberation war’s social history, frequently cited alongside David Lan’s Guns and Rain, also held in this Archive, as one of the two most influential studies of peasant-guerrilla relations during the conflict.
Abantu Archives Note
Held in-house.