Review by Choice Review
Stapleton's serviceable history of African soldiers and police in colonial Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) focuses in part on explaining why thousands of exploited subjects volunteered their services to the colonial state for much of the 20th century. For example, on the eve of Zimbabwean independence, Africans made up two-thirds of the Rhodesian security forces. As Stapleton points out, material factors were of central importance, primarily because of the lack of opportunities elsewhere in the colonial economy. However, the author's interviews with black security force veterans reveal other motives: feelings of patriotism; family traditions of service; and a prevailing belief that a future in the security forces promised a life of excitement, purpose, and adventure. As Stapleton suggests, "it is important to understand that African recruits--even as late as the 1970s--did not usually see the contradiction in colonial military and police service that those looking back at the past do today." He also discovered that black police officers and soldiers consistently challenged discriminatory practices in the services, gradually resulting in significant concessions in pay and rank structure. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. O. Gump University of San Diego
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
