Customer Reviews

Voices from the Rocks: Nature, Culture, and History in the Matopos Hills of Zimbabwe

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Professor Ranger's latest work was one I could not put down. He tells a story which binds you to the place and the people who live there. The individuals and peoples -- of several tribes, African and European -- which populate his book have a vital attachment to their granite hills, and it's fascinating to see that attachment bring them together and divide them. Ranger shows us how complex the reality of inter-ethnic relations are; we see different attitudes toward nature and history be shared or not shared across ethnic and racial boundaries. Cecil Rhodes lives on through this book, and surprisingly, as much more complex than simply a greedy imperialist; after reading this book I can understand better why there's a huge Zimbabwean defense of keeping his body at World's End in the Matopos. This book is a detailed living escape from political history and a thought-provoking study of history and philosophy of nature.