Shaka, founder of the Zulu nation, has been portrayed as a pitiless and savage conqueror who depopulated much of southern Africa. Yet in the 1820s, British fortune-seekers who came upon the Zulu described a civilized and dignified people whose martial skills were tempered by generosity and hospitality. As expanding colonial populations entered Zuluterritory, an image grew up of the Zulu warrior as a regimented man-killing machine. Only from the ashes of Isandlwana and Rorke's drift was the Zulu resurrected as a noble savage, magnificent, particularly in defeat. This account conjures the atmosphere of the past through close adherence to contemporary oral sources. The Zulu world - its passions, intrigues and ideals, the sly white traders, the sqabbling Boers, the thunderous battles and the bright African landscape are all explored in detail.
- ISBN10 0006384684
- ISBN13 9780006384687
- Publish Date 27 November 1995 (first published 24 November 1994)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 2 July 1999
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
- Imprint HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 416
- Language English
- URL http://harpercollins.co.uk