The peoples of Africa

Nurse, G. T., J. S. Weiner, and Trefor Jenkins. The Peoples of Southern Africa and Their Affinities. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986. vi + 409 pp. including tables, bibliography, glossary, author index, and subject index.

Cavalli‐Sforza, Luigi Luca, ed. African Pygmies. Orlando: Academic Press, 1986. ix + 461 pp. including tables, bibliography, and index.     

The technodiplomacy of Iberian transnational railways in the second half of the nineteenth century

In the second half of the nineteenth century Portugal undertook an ambitious public works programme in order to develop the kingdom. In that programme, railways took a leading role, especially those routes that linked the main ports of the shoreline to Spain (and thence to France). To do so, a strenuous effort of diplomacy – or more specifically technodiplomacy – was required to convince Spain to accept cross-border links that served the goals of Portugal. In this paper I will analyse this technodiplomatic process and how two countries with different technological perceptions of railways managed to settle their differences and build five transnational links across their borders over the course of 40 years. I aim to add to the debate about the Iberian cross-border links from the point of view of the history of technology, in particular, and to the discussion about transnational technological systems, in general.     

The transition of British Africa

At the turn of the century British literary historians and critics, such as Geikie, Sharp, and Thomas, studied the influence of environment on the works of novelists and poets. In particular, the concepts of literary geographers and a writer's country were developed. Earlier deterministic approaches have been modified and more recent studies by Drabble, O'Brien and Pocock have looked at the totality of influences of place on the work of various writers.     

The Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa

In East Africa, as in many other regions, the initial shift from hunting and gathering to food production was a secondary process involving the introduction of species domesticated elsewhere. Specifically, the East African Neolithic, or Pastoral Neolithic, centered on herding livestock, some of which may have been domesticated in the Sahara and all of which were almost certainly imported from areas to the north. The development of the Pastoral Neolithic was lengthy and complex, having begun before 4000 B.P. and lasted until about 1300 B.P. Although detailed information on this segment of African prehistory is not abundant, data so far available reveal a succession of cultural transformations within the Pastoral Neolithic, such that it can be divided into early, evolved, and late stages, each exhibiting distinctive combinations of ceramic wares, lithic industries, and subsistence regimes. The transformations seem to have been fostered by both environmental change and population movements.     

The economic development of West Africa

Almost all documented landslides in Scotland belong to one of four categories: non‐rotational rock slope failures (major rockfalls, translational slides, topples or sags, often in some combination); rotational rock slope failures; debris flows; and translational slides in drift or regolith. Non‐rotational rock slope failures are particularly common on Highland metamorphic rocks, especially schists, and on igneous scarps in the Hebrides and Midland Valley; rotational rock slope failures almost invariably occur in weak sedimentary rocks overlain by resistant igneous rocks; and debris flows are most common on sandy drift or regolith. Former glacial activity has also been of importance in determining landslide distribution. The great majority of rock slope failures are ancient features, but debris flows and small translational slides in drift (both triggered mainly by intensive rainstorms) are much more frequent at present and cause much greater damage, particularly to communications.     

The commercial possibilities of British Central Africa

EUROPE.

Hawick and the Border. By the late E. S. Craig, Advocate. Edited by the Rev. James Wotherspoon. Hawick: W. and J. Kennedy, 1927. Price 25s.

Wild Drumalbain, or The Road to Meggernie and Glen Coe. By Alasdair Alpin MacGregor. London : W. and K. Chambers Ltd., 1927. Price 7s. 6d.

A Highland Parish: A History of Fortingall. By Alexander Stewart. With a Foreword by Professor W. J. Watson. Glasgow: Alex. MacLaren and Sons, 1928. Price 10s. 6d.

Spain from the South. By J. B. Trench. London : Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1928. Price 10s. 6d.

Marching Spain. By Mr. V. S. Pritchett. London: Ernest Benn Ltd., 1928. Price 10s. 6d.

Pass‐Staaten in den Alpen. Albrecht Haushofer. Berlin‐Grunewald: Kurt Vowinckel, 1928. Preis M 10.

Italy from End to End. By H. Warner Allen. London : Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1927. Price 10s. 6d.

ASIA.

Humanity and Labour in China. By Adelaide Mary Anderson, D.B.E., M.A. London: Student Christian Movement, 1927. Price 10s. 6d. net.

Sketches of Vanishing China. By Arthur H. Heath. London: Thornton Butterworth Ltd., 1927. Price 30s. net.

The British Connection with India. By K. T. Paul. Student Christian Movement, 1927. Price 5s.

The Ordinary Man's India. By A. Claude Brown, M.B.E. London: Cecil Palmer, 1927. Price 10s. 6d.

A Tour in Southern Asia. By Horace Bleackley. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd., 1928. Price 12s. 6d.

Magic Ladakh: An Intimate Picture of a Land of Topsy‐Turvy Customs and Great Natural Beauty. By “Ganpat” (Major M. L. A. Gompertz, 10th Baluch Regiment, Indian Army), author of The Road to Lamaland, Harilek, The Voice of Dashin, etc. London : Seeley, Service and Co. Ltd., 1928. Price 21s. net.

AFRICA.

Kenya from Within: A Short Political History. By W. M'Gregor Ross, B.A., M.Sc., B.E., M.Inst. C.E., sometime Assistant Engineer, Uganda Railway Construction, 1900; Director of Public Works, East Africa Protectorate (later Kenya Colony), 1905–1923; also Member of Legislative Council, 1916–1922. London : George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1927. Price 18s. net.

The Black Journey. By Georges‐Marie Haardt and Louis Audouin‐Ddbreuil. London : Geoffrey Bles, 1928. Price 16s.

Nigeria under British Rule. By Sir W. N. Geary, Bart. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1927. Price 16s. net.

A History of South Africa. By Professor Eric A. Walker. London: Longmans, Green and Co. Price 12s. 6d. net.

On the Trail of the Veiled Tuareg. By Dugald Campbell, F.R.A.I., author of In the Heart of Bantuland. London: Seeley, Service and Co., 1928. Price 21s. net.

AMERICA.

A Wayfarer in the West Indies. By Algernon Aspinall, C.M.G. London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1927. Price 7s. 6d.

To the Foot of the Rainbow. By Clyde Kluckhohn. London: Eveleigh Nash and Grayson Ltd., 1928. Price 12s. 6d.

Old Trails and Roads in Perm's Land. By John T. Faris. London: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1927. Price 25s. net.

The South American Handbook, 1928. Edited by J. A. Hunter. London: South American Publications Ltd. Price 2s. 6d. net.

AUSTRALIA.

Adventures in the Big Bush. By Cyril Grant Lane. London: Hutchinson and Co., 1928. Price 18s.

POLAR.

Etah and Beyond; or, Life within Twelve Degrees of the Pole. By D. B. Macmillan. London: Chapman and Hall Ltd., 1928. Price 21s. net.

Antarctica: A Treatise ore the Southern Continent. By J. Gordon Hayes. London : The Richards Press, 1928. Price £2, 2s. net.

GENERAL.

Peoples and Problems of the Pacific. By J. Macmillan Brown. 2 vols. London: Ernest Brown, 1927. Price 50s. net.

The Human Habitat. By Ellsworth Huntington. London: Chapman and Hall Ltd., 1928. Price 15s.

The Voyage of the "Caroline” to Van Diemen's Land and Batavia in 1827–38. By Rosalie Hare. With additional chapters by Ida Lee. London: Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd., 1927. Price 15s.

Human Migration and the Future: A Study of the Causes, Effects, and Control of Emigration. By J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., D.Sc., Professor of Geology in the University of Glasgow. London : Seeley, Service and Co. Ltd., 1928. Price 12s. 6d. net.

Grenzen: In ihrer Geographischen und Politischen Bedeutung. Dr. Karl Haushofer. Berlin‐Grunewald : Kurt Vowinckel, 1927. Preis M. 18.

EDUCATIONAL.

An Introduction to Oceanography: With Special Reference to Geography and Geophysics. By James Johnstone, D.Sc. Second Edition, completely revised. London: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., 1928. Price 15s. net.

Field Astronomy for Engineers and Surveyors. By David Clark, M.A., B.Sc. London: Constable and Co. Ltd., 1926. Price 10s. 6d. net.

Handbook of Commercial Geography. By Geo. G. Chisholm, M.A., B.Sc., Hon. LL.D. (Edin.). Eleventh edition, revised and edited by L. Dudley Stamp, D.Sc., B.A. (Lond.). London: Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd., 1928. Price 25s.

Maps, their History, Characteristics, and Uses. By Sir Herbert George Fordbam. Second Edition. Cambridge : University Press, 1927. Price 6s. net.     

The Children of Africa in the Colonies

British Imperialism: Innovation and Expansion 1688–1914 by P.J. Cain and A.G. Hopkins. London and New York: Longman, 1993. Pp. xv + 504, tables, maps. £38 (hardback); £16.99 (paperback). ISBN 0–582–49175–4; 0–582–491762.

British Imperialism: Crisis and Deconstruction 1914–1990 by P.J. Cain and A.G. Hopkins. London and New York: Longman, 1993. Pp. xiv + 337, tables, maps. £30 (hardback); £11.99 (paperback). ISBN 0–582–20966–8; 0–582–20965‐X.     

The atlas of Africa: The persistence of European perspectives

Régine Van Chi‐Bonnardel. The Atlas of Africa. Prepared by Jeune Afrique. New York: The Free Press, 1974. 335 pp. Maps, bargraph diagrams, index‐gazetteer, and glossary. $80.00.