Memoir 18: Rhodesia Study Circle: Handbook Cross-Border Mail Via Rhodesia

Plot

From Schuckmannsburg via Shesheke, from Mbeyahof via Fife, from Vua and Tua via Sumbu, and from Kazombo via Mongu and Kalene Hill – these are but some of the postal routes explored in this Memoir, which marks the completion of an examination of Northern Rhodesian postal history led by that former Petauke resident, Alan Drysdall. In the last two years Alan has collaborated in three Memoirs concerning the early postal history of Northern Rhodesia.

In this Memoir he again teams up with Australian, Paul Peggie, to illustrate (literally and metaphorically) instances of cross-border mail via Northern Rhodesia. This is a tale of missionaries (the Springers, Dan Crawford, the Fishers and others) and early administrators in areas in Central Africa where formal boundaries were still evolving. The fact that the authors have chosen to define cross-border mail in a rather generous fashion is a great blessing. It allows the reader (and I am sure that there will be many) to be exposed to some fascinating items of postal history. The Memoir is produced, indexed and illustrated in a manner that is both pleasing and professional.

This Memoir not only complements Memoirs 13 (The Postal History of North-Eastern Rhodesia) and 15 (The early Postal history of Barotseland: the role of the Paris Missionaries in N.W. Rhodesia), it is an important addition to the understanding of subject matter. It is also a testament to the collaborate nature of the members of the RSC and of the Circle’s commitment to serious research provided in a lively and interesting fashion. The authors deserve our congratulations. Alan Drysdall deserves a medal for bringing this trilogy on Northern Rhodesian postal history to us all in so short a time.

70 pages with 56 illustrations, in colour, A4 with card and transparent plastic covers and spiral bound.