This book is a full study of an African country during the Second World War. Unusually, it provides both an Africanist and an imperial perspective. Using extensive archival and oral evidence, the author explores the social, economic, political, agricultural, and military history of Botswana. He examines Botswana's military contribution to the war effort and the impact of the war on the African home front. The book focuses on events and personalities ‘on the ground’ in Africa, and also on their interaction with and impact upon events and personalities in distant imperial centres, such as Whiteh ... More

This book is a full study of an African country during the Second World War. Unusually, it provides both an Africanist and an imperial perspective. Using extensive archival and oral evidence, the author explores the social, economic, political, agricultural, and military history of Botswana. He examines Botswana's military contribution to the war effort and the impact of the war on the African home front. The book focuses on events and personalities ‘on the ground’ in Africa, and also on their interaction with and impact upon events and personalities in distant imperial centres, such as Whitehall and the wartime British Army headquarters in the Middle East. The attitudes, aims, and actions of all levels of colonial society – British rulers, African chiefs, military officials, ordinary African men and women – are considered, producing a ‘total history’ of an African country at war.