The Eight Zulu Kings: From Shaka to Goodwill Zwelithini

by John Laband

In Eight Zulu Kings, well-respected and widely published historian John Laband examines the reigns of the eight Zulu kings from 1816 to the present. Starting with King Shaka, the renowned founder of the Zulu kingdom, he charts the lives of the kings Dingane, Mpande, Cetshwayo, Dinuzulu, Solomon and Cyprian, to today's King Goodwill Zwelithini whose role is little more than ceremonial. In the course of this investigation Laband places the Zulu monarchy in the context of African kingship and tracks and analyses the trajectory of the Zulu kings from independent and powerful pre-colonial African rulers to largely powerless traditionalist figures in post-apartheid South Africa.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, South Africa, Biography

545 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 17, 2018

About the author

John Laband is a South African historian and writer, specialising in Anglo-Zulu and Boers wars. He is Professor Emeritus and Chair of History at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada, and is a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, England.

Reviews

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a historic non-fic about Zulu rulers in the 19th and 20th centuries, starting with the famous Chaka. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for December 2022 at Non Fiction Book Club group.

This is a rare book that I haven’t finished. While partially it was due to the format, I listened to it on audio, and the book is full of unusually sounding names and local words, even in a book form it isn’t an exciting read (for me) for it dwells on details I don’t particularly care for. So I halted at 52%.

The first king about him the largest part of the book is about is Shaka(Chaka). He wasn’t a particularly nice character, even if his cruelty was maybe exaggerated by Westerners to justify own attacks. One interesting piece from the period that surprised me was that Africa in this period was significantly under-populated and still offered ample territorial scope for settlement, so it was common for disaffected groups to leave one ruler and for by themselves or to one of the neighboring rival rulers. Because political power was based on a ruler’s control over essentially mobile resources such as cattle and the people’s agricultural labor, no chiefdom was bound inexorably to a particular territory. Thus, a disgruntled unit or even an entire chiefdom might migrate elsewhere in search of improved security or better lands, accumulating or shedding adherents as it moved on.

Another interesting piece is an agreement between Zulu and white colonists regarding lands (even as noted above, the territory was less of an issue than Europeans were used to). There was an attempt by the Boers to sign a treaty according to which Zulu cede territory south of them. Zulu were sure that it is a disguise (they also assumed that the Boers were attempting to surround uMgungundlovu under cover of darkness, exactly as abathakathi, or wizards, would have done when making evil magic against the king), so they decided to invite them to a display of dancing, and then kill them while they were unsuspecting and unarmed – one can treat is as a betrayal, another as a cunning plan against a powerful enemy (the author prefers the later).

I will definitely try to find more about the history of this region, but I hope that another source will be friendlier to my reading preferences.

[Anny]

DNF at 11%. Did not tickle my fancy.

[Mer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this a 4 for depth and breadth of information and the quantity of native words. It seems like a very good book if you're already have some familiarity with the people and their culture and are looking to dive in a bit more.

I give it a 3 because the book is more scholarly than I would prefer for an introduction to the people.

[Langa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Depending on one's emotional association with the contents of the book and the historical Zulu Kingdom at large, in terms of tribal association i.e. as a Xhosa man, the most educational part is reserved for the first four kings in my opinion. After these, the politics of the 20th century, which we've heard and been marred in so extensively in related scholastic works, begin to reveal themselves.
That's less of an indictment on the author but more of a compliment at appreciating the importance of delineating the transition from the much more traditional and unconquered monarchs to the more amicable, agreeable and malleable ones.

I got the sense that through the writer, South African history was depicted correctly but more importantly; inclusively, from whichever angle it was written.

I would also like to add, as a side note, that gaining a liking to an Afrikaans artist's song (Robbie Wessels' Voortrekker Monument) during my completion of the book, complemented the inclusion of the Boer incursion into the Zulu Kingdom's realm. I assumed the work would be limited to an exclusively Zulu perspective on history. Thus, the historical aspect of the first four kings is only but ceremonious and nostalgic of a regal past time with the last four.

Goodread, indeed.

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very broad and detailed description of the history of the Zulu Kings. This work is nearly obligatory to understand even recent South African politics.

Laband not only describes the establishing of Shaka, the first Zulu king but also mentions the struggle and wars during the colonial era and ends the book with the recent land reform topic and all the problems it triggers.

[XXX · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't think I would like this book as much as I did. I wanted some more African history and was hoping for a "general" history, not one focused on "great rulers" etc. But this proved surprisingly general for a book centered on the Zulu monarchy in that it discussed general political developments (with Zulu rulers increasingly beholden to the British) and discussions of political intrigue within the polity (e.g., Shaka I think had a much shakier hold on power than in the popular Western imagination. He was, after all, assassinated and constantly feared that type of event).

Sidebar: the audiobook [via Audible] narrator seems to speak fluent/native Zulu, excellent to see this properly pronounced [to the best of my ability to tell]. No major English accent though mispronounced some English words, but honestly very minor compared to the benefit of the first bit.

[Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concise and easy to read, but could go deeper into the political circumstances, motivations and cultural interpretations of the Zulu.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the Zulu, but as always, I wish it was longer. For the audio book they picked a great voice actor who is clearly well versed in bantu because he nails ever pronunciation.