Andrew Manson

A readable, usefully referenced, history of the North West that provides a very useful background to any article or book dealing with the squabbles, splits and internecine strife that characterise communities in the region. This is a feature that extends back into the mists of time. The maps, however, are inadequate. They omit many significant places (Mochudi, Saulspoort...) and the text in Chapter four, in particular, is not understandable without a good map. There are also numerous spelling errors and many inconsistencies in the spelling of names. The book is said to have been 30 years in the making. Two days doing a proper proof read of the text and the maps could surely have been allowed for by the Wits University Press? (Even the scale in incorrect for Map 7). The price for a flawed paperback is unconscionable. But this is an indispensible work for understanding the tangled North West.… (more)