Imagining Serengeti : a history of landscape memory in Tanzania from earliest times to the present /

This remarkable work on the Serengeti area in Tanzania will be of great value to Africans and non-Africans alike, including researchers in African history, anthropology, and geography. The author's text, based on extensive fieldwork, is closely referenced and footnoted to hundreds of earlier and current publications. There are useful maps and photographs. Shetler (Goshen College) shows how the huge Serengeti area has been exploited by African populations from prehistoric times to the present. As innovations in exploitation techniques take place, previously unused areas open up and a new perception of the landscape develops. Perceptions also change with the times: during and after colonialism, for example, or before and after WW I and II. The author is aware that men in the Serengeti consider themselves as the guardians of landscape history. Perhaps more time spent with women, away from men, would enrich this important use of landscapes in eliciting local history. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic levels/libraries. F. P. Conant emeritus, Hunter College, CUNY