The Winds of History

Based on extensive archival research in six countries and intensive fieldwork, the book analyzes the history of the village of Nkholongue on the eastern (Mozambican) shores of Lake Malawi from the time of its formation in the 19th century to the present day. The study uses Nkholongue as a microhistorical lens to examine such diverse topics as the slave trade, the spread of Islam, colonization, subsistence production, counter-insurgency, decolonization, civil war, ecotourism, and matriliny. Thereby, the book attempts to reflect as much as possible on the generalizability and (global) comparability of local findings by framing analyses in historiographical discussions that aim to go beyond the regional or national level. Although the chapters of the book deal with very different topics, they are united by a common interest in the social history of rural Africa in the longue durée. Contrary to persistent clichés of rural inertia in Africa, the book as a whole underscores the profound changeability of social conditions and relations in Nkholongue over the years and highlights how people’s room for maneuver kept changing as a result of the Winds of History, the frequent and often violent ruptures brought to the village from outside. 

Andreas Zeman, University of Geneva, Switzerland. 

"This book is a hugely inspiring global micro-history of a tiny village of less than a thousand people on the shores of Lake Malawi/Nyasa in western Mozambique. [...] Written in a clear and accessible style, the book is both empirically rich and rich in theoretical and conceptual reflections [...]. All in all, this is an excellent book." – Geert Castryck in: Connections. A Journal for Historians and Area Specialists, 17.09.2024, www.connections.clio-online.net/publicationreview/id/reb-139567 (20.9.2024)

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"Zeman makes a strong case for his “global microhistorical” approach, demonstrating how a rural village on the shores of Lake Malawi indeed have a place in history. Particularly significant is his conclusion that “many developments in Nkholongue’s history were not unidirectional, no one-way processes” (p. 419). By setting out to show the historicity of a rural African village, Zeman has succeeded admirably. The book is well-written, engaging, and deeply researched. Its interdisciplinary, historically rich approach provides much-needed nuance to grand narratives about the impact of colonialism and slavery." – Gijs Dreijer in: e-Journal of Portuguese History, 27.12.2024, https://brill.com/view/journals/ejph/22/2/article-p371_10.xml (26.02.2025)

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"Those complications notwithstanding, The Winds of History is an engaging, thoroughly argued, and empirically rich history of what Zeman aptly describes as "a really small place in Africa" (417). Its methodological, conceptual, and historiographical attributes will make it an important book for historians interested in examining how the broad sweep of African history is reflected in the changing history of a single place." – Zachary Kagan Guthrie (University of Mississippi) in The American Historical Review 130 (2025) 2, 847, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhaf154, Published: 11 June 2025