Central Africa: Tribal and Colonial Armies in the Congo, Gabon, Rwanda, Burundi, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, 1800 to 1900

Description

This is the second volume in Foundry’s projected series describing the armies of the era of exploration in sub-Saharan Africa. Following a similar format to its predecessor, it covers the area now largely occupied by the countries of Gabon, the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, and Malawi.This was the archetypal ‘Darkest Africa’ of 19th century exploration, and many of its indigenous inhabitants lived at the time in remote regions. Consequently most of what we know about these peoples comes from the fleeting impressions of such European travelers as encountered them – and all too often their experiences were limited to a flight of arrows from an unseen enemy concealed in the forest. This book therefore sets out to put such confrontations into context, and to describe the organization, tactics, costumes and weapons of the protagonists in this unique theater of conflict. Chris Peers’ authoritative text is accompanied by photographs, maps and 120 drawings of warriors, troop types and flags.