In Writing Revolt: An Engagement with African Nationalism 1957–67, Terence Ranger provides a personal narrative of his development and journey during his early years as a scholar and activist in the cause of African nationalism. Ranger is known for his decades of scholarship and work on Zimbabwean history. Some of his books include Revolt in Southern Rhodesia, 1896–97 (Northwestern University Press, 1967); Peasant Consciousness and Guerrilla War in Zimbabwe (James Currey, 1985); Voices from the Rocks: Nature, Culture and History in the Matopos Hills of Zimbabwe (Indiana University Press, 1999); and Are We Not Also Men? The Samkange Family and African Politics in Zimbabwe, 1920–1964 (James Currey, 2003). One of his best known works is The Invention of Tradition, written in 1983 with Eric Hobsbawm (Cambridge University Press). But Writing Revolt provides a close-up of Ranger himself that allows the reader to walk through his past during the formative 1957–67 period of African nationalism.

Writing Revolt is full of detailed places, dates, descriptions, feelings, and events that recreate Ranger’s perspective on what he describes as the “African Awakening” (xi) during the nationalist struggles and developments over a ten-year period. Ranger relies heavily on primary sources from papers and diaries, mostly those of his colleague John Reed. The book takes the reader on a journey as Ranger, his wife, Shelagh, John Reed, and other early activists inserted themselves into African nationalist campaigns and organizations. Ranger’s account shows how nationalism developed and how he, his wife, and others—both black and white—complicated and blurred the political and social landscape in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. In many ways, the book makes one think differently about the African freedom struggle and the involvement of individuals like Ranger and his wife. And although not front and center, Shelagh Ranger’s bold work and commitment to nationalism provides an interesting side narrative of the often-missed role of women. Ranger’s study shows how the nationalist movement was a series of moments, both victories and defeats. The book is more than an account of nationalism during the late 1950s and 1960s; it also traces Ranger’s growth and development as a scholar. Early on Ranger questions “how a real African history might be written” (25). Although not answered directly, it is a question that is at the heart of the book.

Ranger’s study is divided into eight chronological chapters, from his early years as a boy through his deportation from Rhodesia. Each chapter builds by offering insight into Ranger’s world, providing his background, the influences, experiences, motivations, and interactions associated with his involvement with African nationalism, and how these factors helped shape his Africanist scholarship over the years. When appropriate, the author weaves in the politics and his interpretations of African history at various moments during his career. The first chapter, “A Very Ordinary Boy,” provides useful information about the life of this far from ordinary man, from his birth (in 1929) up through 1957, including material about his family and their values. Chapter 2 shows Ranger’s early activism as a warden at the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland through his commitments to the integration of residence halls in 1957 and his early involvement with the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (SRANC). Chapter 3 discusses Ranger’s ideological disagreements with the African National Congress and its push in the rural communities during 1958. In the next chapter, which looks at the contested emergencies in 1959 in Nyasaland (now Malawi), Ranger argues that “the emergency in Southern Rhodesia is a nonsense” (41) since there was no violence perpetrated by members of the ANC. The chapter outlines the laws and restrictions surrounding the emergencies and also discusses the founding of the journal Dissent by Ranger and John Reed. In chapter 5 Ranger examines the National Democratic Party and his interaction with this new organization in 1960. This chapter is particularly engaging for its revelations of Ranger’s feelings about what it means to be African, as when he asserts that “for the black man everything is still open, everything is still to do—a new state and a new culture to build up. He can become a great vernacular poet and still be a great politician—whereas for the European everything has been done, there is nothing left” (73). In chapter 6 Ranger discusses his 1961 attack on segregation through the formation of the Citizens Against Color Bar Association. Also covered in the chapter is Ranger’s reflection on the tragic drowning of Sketchley Samkange, whom he describes as a “pure nationalist” who would never have engaged in corruption. The next chapter treats Ranger’s involvement and leadership in the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) as vice chair of the district and ends with Ranger’s deportation on February 27, 1963. Throughout this chapter Ranger discusses his understanding of African nationalism and how it was far from being a reversion to tribalism: “The nationalist movement realizes perfectly well that there can be no return to the past. Its desire is to build a future. But it also realizes that a sound future can only be built when people have confidence in themselves and a reasonable pride in their culture and history” (121). And finally, chapter 8 covers the year 1963: Ranger’s move to Dar es Salaam and the important nationalist split. Ranger concludes, “It is clear that I was a natural dissident. I was committed to nationalism but to a liberal nationalism” (182). In the end, Ranger stands as a scholar who would find a place for his activism and dissidence in his writing.

Ranger incorporates many primary sources to shape his history. Interestingly, the primary papers represent both a strength and weakness of the book. For the most part, the interspersed letters offer tremendous insight into the moment, capturing nuances and explanations of contemporary events. There are also instances, however, when the letter entries distract from the story, as in chapter 6. Also, although scholars will find Ranger’s narrative of African nationalism enlightening, and probably share the challenges he describes with writing African history, individuals who are not thoroughly familiar with Zimbabwean history might need more factual information than he provides. Nevertheless, the author plants the seeds for future inquiry into Zimbabwean nationalism and its aftermath.

For fifty years Ranger has consistently provided his readers with invaluable interpretations of the African past, and this study adds to that distinguished oeuvre an engaging look at his own involvement in nationalism in Zimbabwe. Scholars interested in the behind-the-scenes making of and writing on African nationalism will find much to consider in this refreshingly personal narrative.