BOOK REVIEWS 319But I have no wish to join the long list of reviewers who are criticalon the grounds that the book the author wrote was not the one they wantedwritten, and perhaps Dr Bourdillon was right in restricting his goal to avolume which seeks to promote White understanding of Shona culture ina non-polemic way. Aware of past White intransigence Peter Fry, in anotherreview of this book (Africa (1978), XLVIII, 92-3) is sceptical of thisapproach: 'Dr Bourdillon's desire to enlighten the white population throughthe writing of an honest and straightforward ethnography is, I fear, undulyoptimistic, and his deliberate avoidance of political issues unnecessarilycautious.' This is, however, a statement written from the static perspectiveof one whose first-hand experience of the power structure of this countryis now somewhat dated. Whites here are now faced with the requirementof adjusting to a new status of political subordinancy and the necessity of'a greater understanding of their black compatriots' carries a new urgencyand importance. For them, this book is a valuable tool and should be read byall. And, for the benefit of Blacks themselves, this book should be on theshelves of every secondary and tertiary institution of learning in the land,as the standard contemporary ethnography of the Shona.University of Rhodesia M. W. MURPHREI;Historical Dictionary of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe By /?. K. Rasmussen Metuchen,N. Y., Scarecrow Press, 1979, 445pp., US$20,00.From Avondale to Zimbabwe By R. Smith. Salisbury, privately, [1978],314pp.3 ZR$6,00 (s/c).These two reference books will be useful to anyone pursuing research inRhodesia.Rasmussen's volume is the more ambitious and follows the establishedformat of the African Historical Dictionaries Series in which this is theeighteenth to be published. It contains some 1,199 entries and the author hasmade valiant efforts to keep abreast of recent historical research. Inevitablythere are numerious points that will not meet general agreement and everyreader will find what he regards as serious omissions; for example, Keigwinand N. H. Wilson are not included, although Wilson's Two Pyramid policyis entered but ascribed to Huggins. Similarly the criteria of selection some-times seem strange Š entries for rhinoceros and elephant, but none for theCold Storage Commission, the Maize Control Board or the AgriculturalMarketing Authority. Generally the book is weak on institutions, somewhaterratic on places (cf Goromanzi [sic]), stronger on the Ndebele than theShona.Smith's volume is a modest gazetteer of some 130 places in ZimbabweRhodesia, and on his chosen places is generally stronger than Rasmussen;see for example, Rasmussen's failure to explain the origin of the Tuli Circlecompared with Smith's neat and historically accurate description.Whatever their failings, these two books, in conjunction with the bib-liographies reviewed above (p.lO5ff), mark a significant and welcomeaddition to the reference aids on Zimbabwe Rhodesia.R.S.R.