Tracing the history of four African kingdoms which once occupied the region south of the Zambezi River, this study offers insights into the distinctive customs of the indigenous peoples of southern Africa and examines how the European powers changed life in the area forever through colonization and conflict.

Based upon information collected during half a century of field research in Swaziland, this case study presents rare insight into the dynamics of the country's independence, problems facing traditional leaders, and conflicts of interest and personalities.

History and oral traditions in southeastern Africa -- Oral traditions in the reconstruction of southern African history -- Shipwreck survivor accounts from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries -- Founding families and chiefdoms east of the Drakensberg -- Maputo Bay peoples and chiefdoms before 1740 -- Maputo Bay, 1740-1820 -- Eastern chiefdoms of southern Africa, 1740-1815 -- Zulu conquests and the consolidation of power, 1815-21 -- Military campaigns, migrations, and political reconfiguration -- Ancestors, descent lines, and chiefdoms west of the Drakensberg before 1820 -- The Caledon River valley and the Basotho of Moshoeshoe, 1821-33 -- The expansion of the European presence at Maputo Bay, 1821-33 -- Southern African kingdoms on the eve of colonization.

A unique and forward-thinking book that sheds new light on the origins, dynamics, and cosmopolitan culture of the Kongo Kingdom from a cross-disciplinary perspective.

A study of the Basotho and the transition from chiefdom to kingdom to British colony, first published in 2003.

For more than a thousand years, from A.D. 500 to 1700, the medieval kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay grew rich on the gold, salt, and slave trade that stretched across Africa. Scraping away hundreds of years of ignorance, prejudice, and mythology, award-winnnig authors Patricia and Fredrick McKissack reveal the glory of these forgotten empires while inviting us to share in the inspiring process of historical recovery that is taking place today.

Surveys historical regions and kingdoms of Southern Africa, with biographies of Nzinga Mbande, Queen of Angola; Shaka, King of the Zulu Nation; and Moshoeshoe, King of the Sotho.