BOOK REVIEWS83society based on co-operative rather than competitive principles'. However, toparaphrase George Bernard Shaw, 'if you have a dirty face better to wash It cleanthan cut off its head!5Birmingham PolytechnicD.I. RAMSAYOld Age; A Study of Aging In Zimbabwe. By J. Hampson. Gweru, MamboPress, Occasional Paper Socio-Economic Series 6, 1982, 96 pp., ZS2.25.The Economics of Old Age Subsistence In Rhodesia, By D.G. Clarke. Gwelo,Mambo Press, Occasional Paper Socio-Economic Series 10,1977, 71 pp., Z$l .30.African Aged in Town. By O,23 pp., Z$1.00.Muchena. Salisbury, School of Social Work, 1978,Clarke's book deals with the effects of colonial economics on the social structuresof the Shona and Ndebele peoples and the breakdown of much of the functional'social security' measures for the old which were built into a society based on theextended family. He outlines measures which were considered or implementedduring the colonial era for social security and rightly points to their inadequacy. Heindicates various measures for the improvement in the quality of life for the agedand identifies specially vulnerable groups as being women, foreign workers whohave made their homes in Zimbabwe, and the landless unemployed. These last twogroups, of course, overlap to a large extent. It is useful to read Clarke's booktogether with Fr Hampsoe's and with Muchena's work. These two are vividimpressionist studies using case histories as illustrations of the problems encounteredby the old in the city, and also by their relatives, as often the aged must share ahome which provides inadequate space, with two succeeding generations. Thisobviously gives rise to tensions within the household as the elders are conscious oftheir loss of independence and all members of the household are painfully awarethat the resources which must be shared are extremely limited.The plight of the rural aged poor has not as yet been ascertained but onesuspects that it has deteriorated and is a problem which needs attention particularlyin the resettlement areas. One suspects, too, that Hampson's quotation (p. 15) ofthe idyllic picture of an honoured old age holding 'promise of a generous supply offood, drink and clothing; of a warm house to sleep in; of time to sun oneself, with thestrain of decision and labour left to others; of the company of visitors; of thesatisfaction of watching one's herd and offspring multiply' if kinship and otherobligations had been well fulfilled, isŠand was alwaysŠa Garden of Eden myth;and that the reality usually fell very short of the dream.The universality and timelesness of the problems of old age do not make themany less urgent at any particular time and place, and Fr Hampson's timely andexcellent small book is a reminder to us that we must not lose sight of the problem ofthe aged poor in the social and economic demands of a rapidly growing populationwhere resources for social security measures are limited.University of ZimbabweJOAN MAY