Zimbos Never Die?

Ushehwedu Kufakurinani PhD. (2015), University of Zimbabwe, is a research fellow at the University of St. Andrews, School of History having held similar roles at King’s College London and the University of Warwick. He is also affiliated with the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg and the Department of History, Archaeology and Development Studies, Great Zimbabwe University. He has co-edited a book on women and Zimbabwean music, two journal special issues – one on Samir Amin and another on gendered perspectives in Zimbabwe - and has published a monograph entitled Elasticity in Domesticity: White Women in Rhodesian Zimbabwe 1890 to 1979 (Brill, 2018).Eric Kushinga Makombe PhD. (2013), University of the Witwatersrand, is a senior lecturer in the Department of History, Heritage and Knowledge Systems at the University of Zimbabwe and a research fellow at the University of the Free State. His research interests are in urban history, agrarian and development studies, human economy and sustainability, rural-urban linkages, rural studies and climate change. Some of his articles have appeared in Global Environment and the Journal of Developing Societies. Nathaniel Chimhete PhD. (2013), University of Iowa, is a senior lecturer in the Department of History, Heritage and Knowledge Systems at the University of Zimbabwe. His works focus on the African alcohol industry and African nationalism in Zimbabwe. He is also interested in the history of mining in Zimbabwe and Tanzania and in the use of oral sources in the writing of African socio-economic history.Pius Nyambara PhD. (1999.), Northwestern University, is a senior lecturer in the Department of History, Heritage and Knowledge Systems at the University of Zimbabwe. He has published several articles and book chapters on aspects of the economic history of Zimbabwe, including in the Journal of African History, International Journal of African Historical Studies, Journal of Agrarian Change, Global Environment, Historia and Journal of Southern African Studies.

The seemingly unending ‘Zimbabwean crisis’ has been a subject of conjecture, scholarly analysis and debate since the early twenty-first century. However, to date, no study has unpacked with such clarity and depth of analysis some of the multifaceted issues covered by this magnificent book. It is a tremendous contribution to the growing historiography on a subject that continues to exercise the minds of scholars, politicians, economists and citizens alike. A must-read for scholars, students and everyone with the welfare of Zimbabwe at heart. M. Nyakudya (lecturer, History Department, University of Zimbabwe)