The new edition of Historical Dictionary of Mozambique covers the Bantu expansion; the arrival of the Portuguese navigators and their str competition with local African power centers and coastal Arab-Swahili trading towns; the trade cycles of gold, ivory, and slaves; the establishment of the semi-Africanized prazos along the Zambezi Valley; “pacification” campaigns; and the period of Portuguese weakness in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when vast tracts of land were rented to concessionary companies. In the late colonial period the Salazar dictatorship tried to reassert Portuguese power, but after ten years of armed struggle for national liberation, Mozambique gained its independence in 1975. The book contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 600 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Mozambique.

The Historical Dictionary of Mozambique, Second Edition is a concise chronological analysis of the historical, socio-political, economic, and cultural issues Mozambique has faced as well as the personalities that have shaped its history from the earliest times to the present.

This vast dictionary launches the new series, Historical Dictionaries of Women in the World, and fills a huge gap in the literature, as there previously has not been any comprehensive reference work on African women. This dictionary includes over 660 entries on notable women in history, politics, religion, the arts, and other sectors; on events particularly associated with women; on women's organizations and publications; and on a range of topics that are important to women in general or that have a special importance for African women, including marriage, fertility, market women, goddesses, and much more. Entries include cross-referencing information that facilitates readers' ability to find related information. The book also includes an introductory essay and a chronology on African women's history, as well as an extensive bibliography divided into sub-sections on different historical eras and subjects. Access to finding specific information is further aided by a country index. A wide range of users will find this reference extremely valuable, including researchers in African or women's history, high school and university students, and people involved with African policy and development issues such as diplomats or aid workers.

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.

A fictionalized account of the author's experiences growing up in a small village in rural China during the Cultural Revolution.

Blessed with natural beauty and rich vegetation, Rwanda is often called the 'land of a thousand hills' (le pays des mille collines). A proud people, the Banyarwanda (Rwandans) possess a centric view of the world, believing that Imana (God) favors Rwanda, as conveyed through the saying 'Imana yirirwa ahandi igataha i Rwanda' (God spends the day some place else but goes back home to Rwanda to sleep) and the fact that Rwanda means 'the universe.' However, this idyllic view of Rwanda sharply contrasts with the sad history of ethnic strife that has unfolded in the country since the 1950s: the 1959 Hutu Revolution followed by years of anti-Tutsi pogroms, undemocratic regimes, the civil war of 1990-1994, and, more significantly, the April-July 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and Hutu who opposed the killings. This new edition of Historical Dictionary of Rwanda, through its chronology, introductory essays, appendixes, maps, bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions and significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects, provides an important reference on this central African country.