This book records a variety of Sotho decorated huts and other structures. Decorative patterns of paint, pebbles inset into mud plaster, and incised plaster constitute the Ditema mural art tradition of the Basotho, which is similar to, but differs in many respects from, the Ndebele mural art tradition. Many of the interesting and often complex Ditema patterns made on the walls of huts appear to have been rich in symbolism relating to the culture of the Basotho, though these meanings, and the tradition itself, is fast disappearing. 80pp, SOUTH AFRICA. VERNACULARCH PUBLISHING.

An oral autobiography compiled from 15 hours of interviews with JJ Machobane in 2000 and 2001. Born to a sharecropper in the Free State, South Africa in 1914, he spent 13 years researching an agricultural system that would allow the poorer people to harvest food all year round. 110pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA.

Essays examine Basotho religion and western thought as well as missionary strategy, practice and the African re-action. Notes, index, v, 203pp, LESOTHO. MISC PUBLISHERS IN LESOTHO.

2001 9911243737 Paperback

A reference work providing comprehensive entries on historical events and personalities, focusing especially on the Basotho. Includes an extensive bibliography introducing a plethora of newer publications about the country and a chronology of Lesotho's evolution. BNS, 496pp, USA. SCARECROW, 0810848716

Medicine murder involved the cutting of body parts from victims, usually while they were still alive, to be used for the preparation of medicines intended to enhance the power of the perpetrators. A very startling increase in cases of medicine murder apparently took place in Basutoland (now Lesotho), in southern Africa, in the late 1940s and the early 1950s. It gave rise to a dramatic crisis of late colonial rule. Was this increase a real one? If so, why did it happen? How far does it explain the crisis? What other factors contributed? This book offers some comprehensive answers to these difficult, complex and controversial questions and a highly readable analysis of how the crisis arose and of how it fell away. Index, bib, notes, app, 493pp, UK. EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS.

Examines the earlier phase of the incorporation of Lesotho/Basutoland into the broader South African economy between 1890 and 1930 as the Rand mines developed an insatiable demand for migrant labour. The book discusses the penetration of capital into the territory, its impact on indigenous production and the operations of the colonial state. Graphs, bib, gloss, notes, maps, xv, 320pp, SOUTH AFRICA. INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL + ECONOMIC RESEARCH.

2000 0868103594 Paperback

In 1920 six people sat down for a meal at Morija, headquarters of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society in Lesotho. All six were violently ill and one of them, a respected missionary died from the poison in the meal. The author details his attempts to unravel this unsolved murder of a man who had devoted his life to the Basotho. Couzens uncovers a story of heroism and courage as well as deception and betrayal. Illustrated with b/w photographs. xxii, Index, sources, maps, 474pp, SOUTH AFRICA. RANDOM HOUSE SOUTH AFRICA, 0958446822

The first comprehensive survey of Lesotho's history to be published in more than forty years. Over 80 illustrations. Illus, maps, index, 266 pages, Pbk, LESOTHO. MORIJA MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES.

1993 9991179364 Paperback

Facsimile reprint of Duncan's influential codification of Basotho customary law. Covers the legal decisions relating the family, marriage and separation, land use and crimes. With a foreword by W.C.M. Maqutu. 169pp, LESOTHO. MORIJA PRINTING WORKS.

2006 1960 9789991179407 Hardback

Newly available in paperback, this study of Lesotho focuses on the colonial years 1820-1910. It looks at the development and consolidation of the BaSotho realm, and at its agriculture, crafts, at the roles of women, its politics, environment and society. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

History of a troubled period in Lesotho's recent history, between 1987 and 1997, covering the military coups, army and police mutinies and military intervention by South Africa. Maps, col photos, notes, bib, 200pp, LESOTHO. MALUTI HOCHLAND PRINTERS(EDMS)BPK.

2004 0620308281 Paperback

History of the institution, reflecting on the larger forces that have shaped Lesotho. Col illus, 102pp, LESOTHO. MORIJA MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES.

2005 9991163220 Paperback

A study of Britain's tentative overlordship in Lesotho comparing it with the colonial experiences of other territories in Southern Africa and in other parts of the continent. Mohapeloa also describes the influence of South Africa on Lesotho's independence and the consequences of mining, war and epidemics on the political development of the country. Index, bib, app, notes, maps, xix, 437pp, LESOTHO. MORIJA MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES.

Explores another side of the historiography of the four decades prior to Lesotho's independence in 1966, highlighting hitherto neglected Basotho women's voices including those of nuns, politicians, chiefs, prostitutes, runaways and homemakers, Provides a challenge to the models of development, politics, and community that have been predominant in Lesotho in the modern era. B/w photos, notes, bib, index, ix, 282pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL PRESS.

Explores how the Basotho people came to preserve a measure of autonomy from powerful neighbours in the Gun War 1880-81. The Gun War was provoked by the determination of the Cape Colony to disarm the Basotho people. It was not a big war, and outside Lesotho it has been eclipsed by the almost contemporaneous Anglo-Zulu War. Over a period of six months' fighting the number of Basotho killed probably did not amount to more than 700-800; fewer than 200 whites were killed. But in one all-important respect the Gun War was different, not just from the Zulu War, but from all the other wars that were fought out in southern Africa at that time: the whites were humiliatingly defeated, or at least they were decisively held at bay. For this reason alone it calls out for close enquiry. The Basotho chiefs had put up resistance throughout the period of Cape rule, from 1871 to 1884. The Colony had tried to undermine their power and to establish the rule of magistrates instead. The Basotho's victory in the Gun War had lasting significance. The Cape withdrew and imperial rule was re-established. The chiefs had won. The imperial government, for good or ill, left the running of the country largely in their hands. This book presents oral traditions and archival sources with meticulous care. It lays bare the narrower interests and conflicting perspectives among the Basotho chiefs and the local officials, as well as the larger forces at work in the region. And at the centre of this book is a compelling and absorbing study of the Gun War itself. Index, bib, 311pp, UK. MERLIN PRESS.