The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and one of the continent's principal arteries of movement, migration, conquest and commerce. In this new book, historian Malyn Newitt traces the history of the communities that have lived along this great river.

The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and one of the continent's principal arteries of movement, migration, conquest and commerce. In this new book, historian Malyn Newitt traces the history of the communities that have lived along this great river.

The Zambezi became a war zone during the "Scramble for Africa", the struggle for independence and the civil wars that followed the departure of colonial powers.

Through the lens of previously unused Portuguese manuscripts, The Zambezi: A History sheds light on the Portuguese and British colonial rule over the people of this region. The book illustrates the culture of the people who lived along the river; their relationship with the states formed on the high veldt; and the ways they have adapted to the vagaries of the Zambezi itself. Here is an excerpt.

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One of the strangest stories in the history of the Zambezi revolves around the Portuguese conviction that there were silver mines located just upstream of the Cahora Bassa rapids. The search for these mines would dominate Portuguese relations with the Monomotapa for much of the 17th century, and numerous expeditions were sent to find and take possession of them. Yet there are...