For Malawi, there are as of yet few historical volumes that provide a detailed review of the regime of former President H. K. Banda, from 1966 to 1994. . . Banda’s new history aims to ameliorate this gap. He describes how the British colonial state never really ended, but rather transformed with a new identity and new leadership. Banda (Tarleton State Univ.) highlights a violent continuum of state-society relations over Malawi's history, a perennial domination-resistance game played out for over 100 years. It is hard to argue with his evidence. He makes a convincing case that H. K. Banda’s regime was little different than the state that preceded it, and that the devastation wrought on Malawi can be understood as a consequence of these patterns. . . for a treatment of this topic, the book is a solid contribution to collections on Malawi or studies of state-society violence in Africa. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.

Choice Reviews

This thoroughly researched and detailed treatment of counterinsurgency and political policing in colonial and post-colonial Malawi makes significant contributions to knowledge that extends beyond the history of the African state. The book not only analyzes state responses to protest and resistance, but also effectively illuminates the political, economic, and social causes through focus on varied groups and individuals over a lengthy time period. The author makes a compelling case for the importance of situating the Malawi experience in global perspective, as in the broad interpretation of counterinsurgency to include the carrot as well as the stick.

Robert M. Maxon, West Virginia University

Malawian historian Paul Chiudza Banda’s monograph on ‘counterinsurgency’ in Malawi spotlights the state’s use of both violent and non-violent methods in response to opposition groups and individuals during the colonial and immediate postcolonial periods. A hallmark of the book is its insider’s perspective in understanding the complex relations of power between government and subjects/citizens while control and allocation of national resources reveals the paradoxes of ‘development’ in an economically challenged African country.

Tamba M'bayo, West Virginia University

In The State, Counter-Insurgency, and Political Policing in Colonial and Postcolonial Malawi, Paul Chiudza Banda records a heartfelt, passionate and extensive centennial account of the longsuffering and enduring people of Malawi. Coming as it does after the historic intervention of the High Court and Supreme Court of Malawi in a hotly contested and controversial June 2020 presidential election, this is an important and timely book that tells the inspiring story of the relentless struggle of the people against the state and beaming hope for change in the horizon. Indeed, this is a compelling and thoroughly researched account of the tension between society and the state for anyone interested in understanding contemporary Malawi.

Nicholas K. Githuku, City University of New York, York College

A gripping and insightful narrative on Malawi's colonial and postcolonial history. Banda's focus on the emergence of the developmentalist state in the period after World War II and the evolution of development policies in the period after political independence makes the book an important addition to the canon on development policy in Africa, south of the Sahara. His argument that development policies served metropolitan interests and not the people of the colonies is an excellent rebuttal to new revisionist histories that attempt to rehabilitate the image of the colonizers as benevolent and altruistic missioners on the African continent.

Bekeh U. Ukelina, SUNY-Cortland