The gun in central Africa : a history of technology and politics /

The title promises both more and less than the book delivers. Macola (African history, Univ. of Kent, UK) defines "Central Africa" mostly as Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Nyasaland (Malawi), and Congo's southernmost provinces. But he goes beyond hunting and military technology to cover the cultural and symbolic roles of firearms in Central African societies and how they changed through the incorporation of technological innovation. After introductions on technological and late precolonial history, the author details how international merchant capital brought numerous muskets to the region in the 1800s and early 1900s. These weapons transformed traditional economies and polities while empowering upstart warlords, but ultimately could not prevent European conquest. Macola includes a stimulating discussion of "martial races"; namely, Ngoni states that resisted full adoption of firearms as "unmanly" compared to traditional close combat with edged weapons. Ngoni warriors then embraced guns in new postconquest roles and identities as colonial soldiers and police. Brevity precludes the author from fully exploring many fascinating issues broached here. But since Africanists have neglected the history of firearms and the precolonial era, overall, in recent decades, Macola's suggestive work surely encourages further research. Summing Up: Recommended. Most levels; academic and large public libraries. --Thomas Pyke Johnson, University of Massachusetts, Boston