Through the institution of the Zulu monarchy, the distinguished
historian John Laband has written a riveting account of the whole sweep
of Zulu history. Shaka, Africa's most famous warrior-king, was the
formidable, conquering founder of the Zulu kingdom. Two hundred years
later, Goodwill Zwelithini, the current king, is a constitutional
monarch with only informal political influence.
Beginning with the reign of Shaka, the book follows his successors -
Dingane, Mpande and Cetshwayo - tracking their drive to power through
assassination and civil war, and charting their resistance to
colonialism. Although defeated in war, Cetshwayo and his heir, Dinuzulu,
struggled to retain something of their kingly authority during the
brutal transition to full colonial control. Laband describes how, in the
oppressive century of colonial and apartheid rule, their successors -
Solomon and Cyprian - strove to have their abolished royal status
restored, and how Goodwill Zwelithini finally achieved this goal when
the post-apartheid government recognised his royal rank once more.
The Eight Zulu Kings also places the Zulu kings in the context of
other African monarchs and discusses their shared royal traditions and
their common challenges. By bringing the personalities of the Zulu kings
into focus, the book assesses how effectively, within the possibilities
of his own era, each ruler dealt with the opportunities and threats of
his reign.
