Tswana

<p>First published in 1953 and this edition in 1991 this book was created in association with the International African Institute. Since its first publication anthropology and African Studies have changed a great deal but the bedrock of both remains unchanged: solid sensitive ethnographic and historical accounts of the peoples and cultures of the continent. </p><p>Part One is by Isaac Schapera whose documentation of life and times in the Bechuanaland Protectorate stands as a starkly detailed chronical of an African population in a rapidly changing world. Schapera was one of the few anthropologists who spoke frankly of the rural predicament of rural Africans under colonialism. Far from describing the Tswana as a closed or timeless 'society' he locates the people in their political and economic context and in so doing has left behind an extraordinary record.</p><p>This edition of <i>The Tswana </i>consists of the original text to which has been added a second part by John L. Comaroff which covers the transformation of Tswana life in Botswana and South Africa 1953-85 plus a much enlarged bibliography. Together the parts of the book make a valuable summary of an exceedingly rich and ethnographic and historical record that will continue to serve as an indispensable tool in research and teaching.</p>