John Kinahan, an experienced archaeologist, begins with the absorbing story of Namibia's early human activity and concludes with the arrival of German colonialism in the nineteenth century. Subsequent chapters by Marion Wallace, African curator for the British Library, consolidate the most up-to-date research on Namibian history from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. Consulting texts in both English and German, Wallace follows patterns of migration, production, and power in the precolonial period, changes triggered by European expansion, and the dynamics of formal colonialism. She also relates the full experience of German rule, including events that occurred during the genocide of 1904-1908 and the wars of central and southern Namibia, and the fate of defeated Africans, who were imprisoned in concentration camps. Final chapters discuss African nationalism, apartheid, and war between 1946 and 1990 and consider the development of Namibia in the two decades since independence. An invaluable introduction and resource, this volume reasserts Namibia's crucial role in the history of southern Africa, and, with its rich insight and extensive bibliography, furthers responsible research on the country and the continent.