62BOOK REVIEWSperennially absorbing subject of provocation as a defence in murder or assaultcharges, tracing the growth in our law through TenganyikcCs and Nanganfs cases,as it develops differently from the South African law.Finally in this section of the Review there is a reproduction of an address b\Shadreck Gutto to the 1984 Summer School on 'I .;m and Legal Lducauon in theperiod of transition from Capitalism to Socialism'.The next section of the Review is entitled 'Dialogue" and contains an 18-pagearticle by Kempton Makamure and Shadreck Gutio. I am not sure that it is adialogue unless you define dialogue as a monologue by t \\ <' people. The arucle iswell-constructed although for my taste spoiled b> the use oiemotive language inplace of reasoned argument. It criticizes the foreign poiic\ of the l.-nited Slates ofAmerica.The student contribution section which follows shows the value of theDepartment's requirement of a dissertation from its students as part of the BI,course. The three articles are, in fact, expanded and polished dissertations bystudents, two of whom are now on the staff. Thev are SA, oil worth reading.Ben Hlatshwayo gives a critical historical analvsis of the Hi re-Purchase Lawof Zimbabwe from a 'historical materialist' point of view: Welshman Ncube hassome useful and thoughtful comments on the Legal Age of Majority Aci and thedecision in Katekwe v. Muchabaiwa; and Moses Chinyen/e discusses a book onlohola by the ever-controversial and stimulating Ignatius Chigwedere.At the end of the volume there are four comments on decided cases. Thereshould, I think, be more. An article by Felicity Rooney on the Legal Aid Clinic isvaluable because it is a practical commentary on a most important aspect of theUniversity's work Š its contribution towards society which at the same timeprovides practical training. The Review ends with a reproduction of the text of theNkomati Accords, a Survey of Legislation during the period 1980-4, and twobook reviews.I have said that this first edition of the Zimbabwe Law Review scores well as aconstructive and creative outreach towards practitioners. I think it succeedsalmost equally in its effort to show us, outside the University, what theDepartment is achieving and trying to achieve. I hope that in the next volume wemay hear more about the proposed changes in the curriculum and the reasons forthose changes.Supreme Court of ZimbabweMr Justice NJ. MCNALLYTwo Minutes to Midnight Various authors. Harare, Gemini/Kailani Publishers,1985, 184pp., Z$ 11.50.Ivory Madness By David M.H. Lemon. Harare, The College Press, ModernWriters of Zimbabwe Series, 1983, 146pp., Z$4.95,So much of contemporary publishing in Zimbabwe is naturally concerned withgreat issues that it is something of a relief to turn for a moment to some lighterliterature, and both Two Minutes to Midnight and Ivory Madness are very lightliterature indeed, albeit for different reasons.Two Minutes to Midnight is a polished collection of short-short stories chosen,BOOK REVIEWS63says the introduction, 'from a wide range of material...including the prize-winningentries in several "horror competitions" '. International experience on the part ofmost of the authors is evident in an assured handling of material and the skilfulintroductions of the chilling climaxes, evident too in the originality and the varietyof the themes. This is reading admirably suited to the odd idle moment, thoughperhaps, for the nervous reader, rather less admirably suited if those odd idlemoments lie in fact around midnight!In Ivory Madness, on the other hand, the author's lack of experience and evenmore his lack of exposure to competent writing by others, is equally evident. Inplace of the cosmopolitan gloss of the short-story collection, it is an uncompro-misingly indigenous product, in its mores as in its setting. A first novel by aZimbabwean writer, it suffers from stock types in place of characters, an unskilledprose and a liberal use of cliches. Despite these handicaps, however, there arehints of future potential. The plot is imaginatively devised, the story-line movessteadily, and the author's real feeling for his subject comes through. David Lemonshould persevere.University of ZimbabweANNE GIBSON