Canis Africanis ─ A Dog History of Southern Africa

In what is hopefully the beginning of a worldwide series, this examines the role of the dog as an element, however ubiquitous and yet hidden, in the development of African society. In 13 lively but scholarly rigorous articles, contributors examine the role of pedigreed and un-pedigreed dogs as indicators of society, the pre-colonial dog and its place as evidence of status, a curious case of bestiality, the place of dogs in perceptions about morality in the Cape Colony, the ordering of public space according to people and dogs in early nineteenth-century Cape Town, the lessons learned in an 1893 rabies epidemic, dog poisoning and colonial intervention, police dogs and the imposition of the state, gambling as a colonizing act, representations of dogs in literature and in the visual arts, and dog breeding as an indicator of social class. Illustrations include well-chosen period photographs. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Lance van Sittert has a doctorate in history and is an associate professor in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Cape Town. He is an environmental historian who works on the environmental impact of colonial and post-colonial societies in southern Africa with a particular interest in the shifting place of animals in those societies. Sandra Swart has a doctorate in history from the University of Oxford and is a Senior Lecturer in the History Department at the University of Stellenbosch. She is a socio-environmental historian who has published on diverse themes, including identity formation, social rebellion and horses in South Africa and Lesotho.