... highly readable... * TANZANIAN AFFAIRS *
... The result is social history in the broadest, most compelling sense. Economics, Upper-division under-graduates and above. - R.R. Atkinson in CHOICE ... Elegantly written and richly allusive, Mountain Farmers enhances our understanding of the impact of colonialism and the market economy on African societies. Employing both anthropological and historical perspectives, Spear tries to understand African actors on their own terms as they struggled to adapt to the wider political and economic forces affecting them... -- Mustafa Kemal Mirzeler * AZANIA *
... The montane environments of eastern central Africa offer a treasure house of special evidence which has so far been little exploited by historians... Mountain Farmers is a distinguished contribution to the historiography of eastern Africa. Concise and lucid, it places the pre-colonial history of this small but significant region in perspective with the wider issues introduced by the colonial period. - -- Roland Oliver * JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY *
It is a beautifully written text, full of fascinating and well-researched detail, yet never missing the broad historical context. For those interested in the whole process of agricultural innovation and intensification, as population growth and a shrinking land base force adjustments to technical practices and the social control of resources, this is a superb account. * MOUNTAIN RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT *
...fascinating. Spear weaves history, anthropology, political and economics insights into a compelling account. His powerful and vivid analysis of the assimilation and transformation of Christianity into the basis of political organization by the Arusha and Meru rings true. This book is a must for anyone contemplating working in East Africa, whether as a researcher or development worker, agronomist, economist, historian or anthropologist. - * Katherine Homewood in HISTORY *