A New History of Tanzania

by Isaria N. Kimambo, Gregory H. Maddox, Salvatory S. Nyanto

Tanzania, the land and the people have been subject of a great deal of historical research, but there remains no readily accessible and concise history of the country. The aim of this volume is to fill that void. A New History of Tanzania takes its name from a lecture series introduced at the University of Dar es Salaam by Professor Isaria Kimambo in 2002. Prior to that, a book titled, A History of Tanzania, had been published in 1969 by East African Publishing House in Nairobi for the Tanzania Historical Association. That book is currently out of print and this is not a reprint. In this book, Prof. Kimambo has been joined by two other colleagues; Prof. Gregory H. Maddox of Texas Southern University, Houston (USA) and Salvatory S. Nyanto, a Tanzanian, Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Iowa (USA); together they have produced an outline history of Tanzania that covers all important aspects from antiquity to the present that is different from and richer than its predecessor. Sources from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, biology, genetics and oral tradition have been used to produce this excellent book.

A New History of Tanzania is a timely contribution to academic requirements for teaching and learning Tanzania’s history. It is also a possible exemplar to the writing of other countries’ histories, departing as it does, from the traditional historiography that is influenced by colonial and postcolonial apologists of nefarious external influences on Africa’s history. It will also interest other Tanzanians and visitors to Tanzania who are interested in understanding the country from when it was a territory with more than one hundred and twenty ethnic groups, to a nation with an unmistakable identity as it marches forward.

Genres: Africa, Tanzania, History

242 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a history of Tanzania from before the dawn of humanity to recent history. The book is weighted toward economic history, but political, anthropological, and social history are also covered. Readers of modern popular history books might find this a little dry as it reads a little like a textbook. But when this book delves into details it is excellent. With that, the authors do make some anti - capitalist and anti - globalization arguments that I disagree with.

I found the book’s biggest shortcomings to be in its omissions. Obviously, the authors choose to emphasize some parts of the history and deemphasize other parts. Unfortunately, this left major pieces of the history lacking. For instance, there are only a few paragraphs dedicated to the Maji, Maji uprising, the path to Tanganyika independence is covered in a sparse way, the life of Julius Nyerere is inadequately covered, the conflict between Tanzania and Uganda is barely mentioned, plus other weaknesses in the history. This is too bad, as even a few additional pages devoted to each of these topics would have made this a stronger book.

When this history and analysis gives us adequate words on a topic it is thoughtful and informative, even if I disagree with some of it. But it would have benefited from a greater length.

[Julius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch startet mit dem Beginn der Menschheitsgeschichte und einer kurzen Untersuchung der Geographie und des Klimas dessen, was heute Tansania ist. Es behandelt die Geschichte chronologisch mit häufigen Einschüben wie zu Linguistik (bzw. Sprachhistorik). Gerade die unterschiedlichen ökonomischen Entwicklungen innerhalb des (damals noch nicht existierenden) Landes und die geographischen und athropologischen Zusammenhänge sind spannend hergeleitet. Auch der immer stärker werdende europäische Einfluss und schliesslich die Kolonialisierung werden deutlich als Prozess dargestellt. Die Entwicklungen nach der Erklärung der Unabhängigkeit nehmen allerdings überraschend wenig Platz ein. Und obwohl das Buch erst 2017 veröffentlicht wurde, stoppt die Betrachtung im Grund rund um das Jahr 1990. Den zehn Jahren bis 2000 werden noch zwei Seiten gewidmet, alles danach fällt weg.

Es gibt ausserordentlich viele Rechtschreib- und Grammatikfehler.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Except for grammatical errors and typos here and there, it is a good, brief, overview of the history of Tanzania. Good introduction to the main historical influences so you can dig deeper on certain stories/people.

[Bernard · Rating 2 out of 5]

The postscript is the only part that is readable and interesting. It is concise and contains only 1 typo, unlike the other chapters. Still it promotes the victim mentality like in the other chapters and sees capitalism aa the main reason of the bad situation Tanzania is in.

[Dan Magz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would probably give fewer stars, but saw few other histories on Tanzania, so would take this over nothing