106 BOOK REVIEWSpopulation census is also timely and will be widely endorsed in all sections ofthe community in Zimbabwe.Agricultural Marketing Authority, Salisbury E. G. CROSSThe Woman's Guide to Law through Life By The Women in Development .'R&earch Unit. Salisbury, University of Rhodesia, Centre for Inter-racial 'Studies, 1979, 43pp., Z$0.50. l'African Women in Urban Employment By Joan May. Gwelo, Mambo Press,Occasional Paper, Socio-Economic Series 12, 83pp., Z$2.00.l'lie first booklet under review attempts to outline the law as it affects African 'women in matters concerning marriage, birth, children, death and widowhood. *The title does not give an idea of the target population of the handbook, and (the fact that it focuses on African law excludes non-African women who icould also benefit from a simplified handbook (witness the success in Britainof Anna Coote and Tessa Gill's Women's Rights: A Practical Guide (Har-mondsworth, Penguin, 1974)).The handbook will be of limited use to a large number of African womenwho are not literate if! English but who could benefit more from a vernacularversion of the handbook. Some points are given briefly without an accom- fpanying explanation, e.g. why it is necessary to have a 'genuine go-between'if the guardian of a woman who is getting married is a Purchase Area fanner. IHowever, the handbook is useful, simply because it raises points for 1discussion on procedure, thus stimulating more interest and inquiry by womeninto the whole arena of customary law and its effects on African women'sstatus. It is also useful to community workers who deal with women in clubs '.and so forth, and can help bring attention to legal issues that women are not f'aware of.Tie second booklet highlights the cultural, economic and social disad- 'vantages imposed on women in urban employment. It makes useful suggestions ,for improving the lot of women, e.g. the establishment of women's bureaux.This is a useful suggestion in view of the shortage of information that can beused to guide action in the field of women's welfare and emancipation. How-ever, the author falls short of her stated intention of identifying motivational *factors which would draw women into agriculture where, she says, there is achronic labour shortage. Also she does not suggest how women can realize .*their potential in a rural, agricultural setting where agricultural and economic 'activity is male-dominated and male-oriented. Despite this, the paper high-lights the wastage of female resources and presents a challenge to agriculturaland rural policy-makers and their counterparts in urban commerce andindustry.University of Zimbabwe RUDO GAIDZANWA -