This title features a general history of Malawi, focusing mainly on the colonial period, when it was know as Nyassaland, but placing that period in the context of the pre-colonial past.

First comprehensive account of the origins and early history of the Chewa as revealed by oral tradition and archaeology that allows a more accurate picture of a pre-literate society.

This is the first attempt to comprehend the whole of Malawi's church history in a single volume. The focus of this book is about documenting the religious experience which was at the centre of founding the new nation of Malawi as we have come to know it. The book strikes a balance in covering issues pertaining to both mission activities and African agency. In many instances interesting pieces of evidence have been marshalled to corroborate or emphasize some of the conclusions reached.

Malawi, established as the British protectorate of Nyasaland in 1891, gained its independence in 1964 and moved immediately into three decades of one-party rule. Since the mid-1990s, however, the country has held multi-party elections, as directed by its constitution, and President Bingu wa Mutharika is currently serving his second term. The fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of Malawi, now newly expanded and updated, covers a wide range of areas in Malawi history, including the rise and fall of state systems, religious and socio-political movements, the economy, environment, transportation, war, disease, and natural sciences. Author Owen J. M. Kalinga charts developments from pre-history to the post-Banda Malawi, from Tom Bokwito to James Sangala, and from the UMCA mission at Magomero to the second term of Bingu wa Mutharika's presidency, paying particular attention to the individuals, groups, communities, and forces that have molded this South African country. The dictionary itself contains over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on crucial aspects of Malawi history, and it is the most extensive single-volume reference work on Malawi available. In addition to the dictionary entries, Kalinga provides a chronology containing important dates and events and an informative bibliographical section organized by subject. The final part of the bibliography gives the reader a list of current and obsolete newspapers and periodicals related to Malawi, an ideal resource for further research. This newly updated edition is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Malawi.

Malawi is a small and poorly known country, but the crimes committed against its people by the brutal dictatorship of Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda are a part of our shared human history. It is about what happens when governments turn state violence on their own people with impunity. The book gives voice to Malawians who were arbitrarily imprisoned, who fled for their lives into exile, or who suffered silently under the regime's state-sponsored terror from 1964 to 1994. These are not easy stories for the victims to tell and people in power do not want them to be made public. To add to the indignity endured by the regime's victims, Malawi's current leadership has been rehabilitating Banda's image and honouring him, despite well-documented reports of atrocities and abuse of human rights. Nevertheless, even unpleasant history must be openly faced, discussed and acknowledged to provide lessons for the future. The book helps redress this one-sided revision of Malawian history. Fifty years after independence, the Malawi people continue to suffer in absolute poverty and in greater numbers than ever, because the lessons of history from Malawi's lost years have not been learned.

'Professor Rotberg has given students of African history a detailed and thoroughly documented study of the creation of Malawi and Zambia and much information on the formation and collapse of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. No other scholar has written so full and reliable an account of this recent and complex history. Rotberg had access to hitherto unused official archives and to private correspondence, sources that he supplemented by interviews with many of the European and African participants in the events of the last decades of a century of history. No one can read this story without being impressed by the dizzy speed of change in Africa.'-American Historical Review

Using the experiences of Malawi, one of the poorest countries on the African continent, to illustrate both the challenges that poverty creates, and the opportunities for change that exist. Poverty, AIDS and Hunger outlines an easily-replicable model, at modest cost, that could lift people quickly out of poverty, with sustainable benefits.