{"product_id":"9781032955629","title":"PRE-ORDER NOW A History of Rhodesia by Robert Blake","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e PRE-ORDER NOW - Published: 19\/01\/2026 \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFirst published in 1977, A History of Rhodesia is a history of the origins and course of modern European occupation of `Southern Rhodesia', `Rhodesia' as it has been termed since the old `Northern Rhodesia' became independent under the name Zambia in 1963. Robert Blake describes the years of the Monomotapa; the Portuguese occupation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; the Ndebele kingdom of the nineteenth century; the advent of Cecil Rhodes and the establishment of the Chartered Company which ruled Rhodesia until 1922; the period Southern Rhodesia enjoyed a self-governing colony from 1923 to 1951; the years of the Central African Federation from 1953 to its dissolution in 1963; and finally the dramatic course of events which led to Ian Smith's government making a unilateral declaration of independence in 1965. The years since UDI are covered by a long epilogue that takes the story forward to the early months of 1977.   Rhodesian history is a strange and intriguing compound of romance, idealism, courage, arrogance, avarice and accident. Rhodesia's story is not only that of economic, political, ideological and external forces which have shaped it-it is also that of the individuals who made-or failed to make decisions: Rhodes, Lobengula, Jameson, Lord Malvern, Roy Welensky, Garfield Todd, Joshua Nkomo, Ian Smith.   Written with access to many collections of papers not normally available to historians, Robert Blake's book is a major contribution to the history of colonial and post-colonial Africa. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56420544381301,"sku":"9781032955629","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781032955629","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}