216BOOK REVIEWSSouthern Africa By A. J. Christopher Folkestone, Dawson, 1976, 292pp.,£8,00.Historical geography within Southern Africa, the author points out, has beena neglected subject in the twentieth century, and this book is an attempt tocorrect this deficiency. He has concentrated his attention almost exclusivelyon European settlers and their interaction with the land. Within the limitationshe has set for himself, Christopher has done a highly competent job. He hastraced the changing patterns of land use from the first settlement in the 1650sto the urban industrial era of the twentieth century, and the information heprovides should be of considerable value to students of Southern Africanhistory. He explains the relative lack of appeal of Southern Africa for Euro-pean immigration as compared to the United States and to British settlementcolonies elsewhere in terms of the poverty of the physical environment, muchof which was suitable only for highly dispersed pastoral activity, and to thepresence of a large indigenous population. The latter had a dual discouragingeffect Š Europeans did not desire to come in larger numbers, and South Afri-can Whites did not want poor labourers from Europe when they had availablea large cheap African labour force.Concentration on white settlement, however, produces a one-sided view ofSouth African history. The reader will find in this work little of the sturmund drang of inter-racial contact during the last three hundred years. The onechapter that he devotes to African and European contact is the least satisfac-tory part of the book. There are many dubious statements. He says that theHottentots were 'content' to work for European farmers ŠŁ a curious choiceof words. And to maintain that Europeans avoided the dense African popula-tion zones up to the 1860s (p. 139) seems to ignore the collisions on the easternfrontier during that period. The author expresses the hope that some otherwriter will take up the theme of African imprint on the landscape. This re-viewer heartily concurs that such a study is very much needed.University of California, Los AngelesJ. S. GALBRAITHAfrican Nationalist Leaders in Rhodesia: Who's Who By R. Cary andD. Mitchell. Bulawayo, Books of Rhodesia, 1977, illustrated, 310pp.,Rh$9,00 (pbk Rh$3,00).Prominent African Personalities of Rhodesia Salisbury, Cover PublicityServices, 1977, illustrated, xi, 196 pp., Rh$6,00.To those seeking answers to a whole host of questions facing Rhodesia andwho are concerned about the future of our country, these books are well worthpurchasing, if only to study the history and experience of a number of the peo-ple included. I also offer a word of appreciation to the authors for theirefforts; it must have been a time consuming operation requiring a great dealof cross-checking and not always in the easiest circumstances.For me the volume by Cary and Mitchell does answer some of the ques-tions that are repeatedly asked in Rhodesia today. One of the first that comesto mind is, 'Are there African leaders capable of running a government in thiscountry?' Secondly, 'Is there the material to provide Officers of State as wellas Civil Servants at the levels capable of running a moderately successfulgovernment?' In answer to the first question I would have no hesitation in