The Banta-Speaking Peoples of Southern Africa Edited by W. D. Hanimond-Tooke London, Rout-ledge & Kegan Paul, 1974, xxii, 525 pp. no price indicated.This revision and updating of the classicBantu-Speaking Tribes of South Africa, firstpublished in 1937, Is to be welcomed, bothas a teaching work and (in Schapera's words)as 'a satisfactory manual of South AfricanEthnography' (p.xii).Immediate cjuestions will be asked abouthow the new edition compares with the old,what the coverage is like, and how the new con-tributors have acquitted themselves.The first noticeable feature of the volumewhich Hammond-Tooke has edited is its moredetailed documentation. In a BibliographicalIndex of well over a thousand sources it ispossible to pick out not only at least 200 pre-1936 ethnographic texts, including and extend-ing those in the original 'General Ethnography'bibliography, but at least 250 post-193 6 genuineethnographic contributions, that is, descriptivesocial anthropological as opposed to historical,medical or physical anthropological items. Thisbibliography alone is a substantial contributionfor the benefit of scholars and students.The actual subject coverage of the book hasbeen narrowed to the extent that the formersections on language and music have beenomitted, and this in a volume which has beenextended from 453 to 525 pages. Here theeditor's explanations that pressure on space andthe development especially of linguistic studiesprevented their inclusion must be respected.The reorganization of the contents in three pro-gressive sections is also a useful feature of thenew volume.The change in the title will not have escapednotice, and the editor refers to it with a usefuldisquisition on the modern vagueness and am-biguity of the term 'tribe'. In spite of this,280 'tribes' are listed in the Tribal Index ofthe present volume compared with 266 in theold book, although the entry against 'tribe' inthe comprehensive Subject Index is a modestone.To some people the contrasts of subjecttreatment between the old and the new volumewill suggest an interesting historical develop-ment of South African ethnography over thespace of two generations. Even in the four in-troductory chapters which deal with the back-ground Š 'The People and their Environment'Š there is a real difference of approach. Thetraditional broad classificatory stance towardsraces by Raymond Dart in the original Chapter1, for example, has been replaced by themodern biological focus on populations inwhich Phillip Tobias, writing with his usualclarity, stresses the environmental pressureswhich have led African Negro populations todiverge in genetic constitution. The distin-guished ethnologist van Warmelo, the onlycontributor whose work was also in the originalvolume, now renames his former 'Grouping andEthnic History' chapter more appropriately'The Classification of Cultural Groups', up-dating the terminology (Zulu-speaking Ngunifor Natal Nguni, North Sotho for TransvaalSotho) and extending the ethnic descriptionswith additional documentation. 'Material Cul-ture' by Margaret Shaw in Chapter 4 standsalone as a systematic and well-documentedtreatment instead of being merged, as it for-merly was, in Schapera and Goodwin's chapter'Work and Wealth'.In Part II, 'The Traditional Societies', BasilSansom deals with 'Traditional EconomicSystems', but as in Part I, ecologically oriented,with an interesting developmental thesis thata) the traditional economics of Bantu tribesin southern Africa were of two kinds, producedas adaptations to the contrasting ecologies ofeast and west, and that b) the unitary subsist-ence economy of traditional times has beensuperseded by a dual economy marked by theinterpenetration of subsistence and marketsectors.A chapter of great interest to social anthro-pologists will be Eleanor Preston-Whyte's con-tribution, 'Kinship and Marriage', drawing to-gether in the modern style material which in theold volume was spread between two differentchapters on 'Social Organization' and 'Indivi-dual Development'. Preston-Whyte's analysisis truly comparative and goes beyond the des-criptive ethnography of the original contribu-tions. With much more material now to hand,it is a praiseworthy attempt to marshall, andone suspects often to reconcile, fieldwork at128[<#- *Łvarying levels of competence. This is a sub-stantial contribution to our overview know-ledge, and the author gives credit for the helpof Professor Eileen Krige.The chapter on 'Growing Up' by Virginiavan der Vliet is a similarly competent extensionof new from previous material, with a realattempt at analysis. Sansom's chapter on poli-tics, 'Traditional Rulers and their Realms', isa little disappointing from an ethnographicpoint of view in that while he adopts a usefultheoretical approach supported by case studieswith some success, this tends to obscure thebasic ethnographic parameters of Bantupolitical life, for which one still might haveto refer to Schapera's contribution in the origi-nal book. The same might be said of Myburgh'schapter, 'Law and Justice', but for very differ-ent reasons. In spite of being well documentedand utilising the highly relevant distinction be-tween public and private law, the work appearssomewhat diffuse although it has value indetail.David Hammond-Tooke's own contributionof two chapters on religion and magic marks amodern advance on the earlier chapters byEiselen and Schapera and Winifred Hoernlerespectively. He deals first with the Bantuworld-view as a system of beliefs, and in thesecond chapter with the working out of thesebeliefs in action. The result is good ethno-graphic coverage together with a willingness,previously evinced in his inaugural lecture, tocome to terms with the psychological com-ponents of social life, a fairly recent trend inanthropology.The four chapters of Part II deal with socialchange and the processes of urbanization.University of RhodesiaBenyon's historical introduction, of consider-able value, somehow fits into the first sectionof the book, or should at least be read early.Desmond Hobart Houghton's account of 'TheProcess of Economic Incorporation' naturallyfollows on. The book concludes with two valua-ble chapters Š the one on 'The Influence ofChristianity' by Pauw, again with fine com-parative ethnography, and the other on 'TheImpact of the City', by Allie Dubb, an over-view of urban Bantu life presented with hisusual crispness and rigour. As he says in hisconclusion: 'There is no doubt that since EllenHellmann wrote her chapter 'The Native inthe Towns' in the original 1937 edition ofThe Bantu-Speaking Tribes of South Africa,urban studies have come a long way.'In spite of the gaps (to which Dubb alsoalludes), this reviewer would say that the pre-sent volume demonstrates the same propositionof progress for ethnographic studies as a wholeIn southern Africa. The editor is inclined to beapologetic in his Preface about sheer lack ofinformation and patent inaccuracies and mis-understandings, particularly in the earliersources for this book. It may be that contri-butors have papered over the cracks a little toowell and thereby produced some spurious con-cordances. Nevertheless one cannot fail to beimpressed by the sheer technical, qualitativeand quantitative improvements in ethnographyand analysis in this volume over its now largelysuperannuated predecessor. Whatever one'sviews on the current state of anthropologicaltheory, the vigour of its ethnography, at anyrate in this part of the world over the lastthirty-five years, cannot be doubted. This bookmust take its place as essential reading forsouthern African ethnography, and a soundguide to sources.D. H. READERChristianity South of the Zambezi Edited by A. J. Dachs Gwelo, Mambo Press, 1973, 213 pp.Rh$2,90.The significance of Christianity in Africahas never been limited to the purely theologicalimplications of its teachings. Its introductioninto Africa coincided wth the advent of West-ern imperialism in much of the continent; andthe conversion of individuals often was regardedas a sign that they had adopted Western cul-tural standards and had turned their backs ontheir own traditions. In much of Africa thetask of introducing Western social services alsofell to the missionary and for years the educa-tional and medical facilities of the continent129