186 BOOK REVIEWSinconsiderable journalistic skills in order to paint a picture of past andpresent events rather to prophesy future ones. I would have loved to havesmelt an Angolan morning in Moorcraft's book; tasted a meal of whateverwith whomever around a table in Salisbury as Ken Flower gave his oftenamazing version of things that happened and things about to come; andexperienced what it felt like to be on a long march in UNITA countryduring the Angolan Civil War.To conclude: it's worth having this book for its factual informationin which month did Mandela get released? When was the Jameson Raid?Pass me my Moorcraft, will you?Hamre T. GRUNDYReligion and Society: A Text for Africa By M. F. C. Bourdillon GweruMambo Press, 1990, 406 pp., ISBN 0-86922-492-1, Z$39,50.Bourdillon is interested in the functions of religions in various societiesand in the processes by which religions fulfil these functions. This well-organized, well-written book is also well designed to fill the purposeimplied in the subtitle. It is 'for Africa' partly because some themes whichprovide the focus for the chapters, for example witchcraft, are of particular,though not exclusive, interest in Africa, and partly because a larger thanusual number of illustrative examples are drawn from African societies.Beginners in the study of religion will welcome the book's overallthematic structure as it leads them fairly easily to subjects of interest, forexample, 'Authority and Power', 'Ritual', and 'Religious Change and Seculari-zation'. Teachers will appreciate the way Bourdillon has integrated theor-etical material with accounts of religious practices in various societies.Each chapter presents a selection of societal examples of the chapter'stheme and offers theoretical perspectives for interpreting them. Thesetwo aspects make it well suited for a college or university course introducingreligious studies from a sociological perspective or introducing thesociology of religion as a discipline.A further strertgthof the book as a scholarly tool is its documentation,which leads the reader on to a wide range of relevant literature, bothstudies of particular religious traditions (in Africa and elsewhere) andmethodological works. Thus it can guide the student beyond the beginningparticularly if he or she has access to an adequate library.As I am trained in philosophy and theology I am not equipped tocriticize the author's approach or treatment of his subject itself. I canobserve, however, that his approach seems inclusive, if not comprehensivein as much as interpreters cited cover a broad range of analytical models'I like this. Bourdillon's approach does not appear to be doctrinaire Hennds value for some interpretive purpose in all the methods to which hereters leachers with particular methodological preferences (or axes togrind) will thus not find their students confused by another strong biasbut simply informed.BOOK REVIEWS 187Also significant for the student of religion is Bourdillon's attitudetowards his subject. While he appropriately suspends judgement whensuggesting possible meanings or functions of a society's religious practices,he also allows explicitly for those meanings religious practitioners find intheir modes of belief. That is, he does not reduce religious practice tomerely social significance. Part of his concluding paragraph may serve toindicate the tone of the book in this regard:One of the reasons for studying religion is to understand better how it works andwhat it does ... The sociological study of religion is not primarily concerned withthe truth value of different religions. We as individuals, however, must be con-cerned with the truth value of our own ways of thinking. This study is wasted if itdoes not help us critically to assess our own ideologies, in an endeavour toimprove them (p. 373).University of Zimbabwe JEAN LAMBERT