Overview

"The Horrific Tragedies of Central Africa in the 1990s riveted the attention of the world. But these crises did not occur in a historical vacuum. By peering through the mists of the past, David Newbury presents case studies illustrating the significant advances in our understanding of the precolonial histories of Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern Congo that have taken place since decolonization. Based on both oral and written sources, the essays compiled in """"The Land beyond the Mists"""" are important both for their methods - viewing history from the perspective of local actors - and for their conclusions, which seriously challenge colonial myths about the area."

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Reviews

This collection is a fitting survey of a career dedicated to understanding the history of a place that came to dominate the world's attention for a short period and the drifted back under the radar. The Land Beyond the Mists showcases some of the most innovative work in the field of African History in essays that explore the history of Rwanda, most importantly is western marches, and other pre-twentieth states of the Great Lakes region. -- Gregory Maddox, author of Custodians of the Land and In Search of a Nation The Land beyond the Mists is far more than a 'must read' for everyone interested in the history of Central Africa. It powerfully demonstrates the achievements of Africanist historiography over the last four decades and represents historical work at its best: empirically based, methodologically sophisticated, locally informed, broadly inclusive. -- African Studies Review The Land Beyond the Mists serves as a fitting testament to a distinguished career of scholarship devoted to unearthing overlooked perspectives into the deep past of an often neglected area of the continent. -- Journal of African History Newbury's essays ... provide sophisticated approaches to understanding the recent troubled trajectory of the Kivu Rift Valley. ... (A) rich collection that traces (Newbury's) personal intellectual journey as much as it explores the tortuous history of the land beyond the mists. -- Africa: The Journal of the IAI

Newbury's essays ... provide sophisticated approaches to understanding the recent troubled trajectory of the Kivu Rift Valley. ... (A) rich collection that traces (Newbury's) personal intellectual journey as much as it explores the tortuous history of the land beyond the mists. The Land Beyond the Mists serves as a fitting testament to a distinguished career of scholarship devoted to unearthing overlooked perspectives into the deep past of an often neglected area of the continent. The Land beyond the Mists is far more than a 'must read' for everyone interested in the history of Central Africa. It powerfully demonstrates the achievements of Africanist historiography over the last four decades and represents historical work at its best: empirically based, methodologically sophisticated, locally informed, broadly inclusive. This collection is a fitting survey of a career dedicated to understanding the history of a place that came to dominate the world's attention for a short period and the drifted back under the radar. The Land Beyond the Mists showcases some of the most innovative work in the field of African History in essays that explore the history of Rwanda, most importantly is western marches, and other pre-twentieth states of the Great Lakes region. -- Gregory Maddox, author of Custodians of the Land and In Search of a Nation

This collection is a fitting survey of a career dedicated to understanding the history of a place that came to dominate the world's attention for a short period and then drifted back under the radar.... Newbury seeks to debunk both the racial myths and the focus of folk migrations that have passed for history in the region. In doing so he undermines colonial fantasies about invading 'Hamites,' almost historical 'honorary whites,' civilizing primitive 'Bantu' and creating the kingdoms of Rwanda and Burundi with their systems of hierarchy based on Tutsi domination of Hutu and Twa. In essay after essay he uses oral sources to deconstruct these mythologies and demonstrate the ways in which such social hierarchies were created in history. - Gregory Maddox

Author Information

David Newbury is the Gwendolen Carter Professor of African Studies at Smith College. His books include Kings and Clans: A Social History of the Lake Kivu Rift Valley, African Historiographies: What History for Which Africa?, and Paths to the Past: Essays in Honor of Jan Vansina.

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