This collective biography of Thompson Samkange and two of his sons, Sketchley and Stanlake, illuminates much of the history of African politics in colonial Zimbabwe. But for the Samkanges, the road to politics lay through religion, so this is a history of African involvement in Methodism as well. Thompson Samkange was born in 1893 at the time his land was being overwhelmed by white settlers from the south. Stanlake Samkange, professor of history and writer of historical novels, lived to see the achievement of Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.
Terence Ranger has conjured a book of creative originality out of a range of sources. There was the unique archive of Thompson's papers in a tin trunk which had been defying rats and dampness in a laundry. The National Archives had an extraordinary body of evidence for the modern history of Methodism. Thompson Samkange was one of the founders of the African press and there is constant mention of him and his family in contemporary newspapers. When Thompson became president of the Bantu Congress, his activities were closely monitored in the Intelligence files.
Much of this story came alive through oral interviews. As one informant said, "We feel useless because we carry around in our heads all this stuff that nobody needs. Now you have shown us that it is useful after all!" Terence Ranger says that "I have tried to record the history of the Samkange family in their own words. These words allow the reconstruction not only of events but also of ideas, and profound ideas at that."
