Maps, notes, bibliography, appendix, index. Reviewed by James Burns , Department of History, Clemson University. Page begins with an analysis of the role of Malawian troops in the British campaign against the Germans in East Africa. He describes the conditions of recruitment and service of the Malawian soliders, or askari, as well as the harrowing experiences of the tengatenga, laborers who suffered terrible privation and a harrowing mortality rate throughout the war. Malawian troops, whether soldiers or laborers, served in deplorable conditions, and participated in some of the bloodiest and most protracted fighting to be found outside of Europe.
Page then considers the plight of civilians on the Malawian home front.
He observes that those who remained in their villages suffered as well, with drought and war-time shortages exacerbating the problems of families dealing with the loss of loved ones and wage earners. His narrative of the war ends with a discussion of the post-war period, when influenza, carried by returning porters and soldiers, ravaged a population already staggered by the demands of the conflict. Page observes that in 1914 the war struck a people already traumatized by colonial occupation. To most Malawians it appeared to be an exacerbation of an existing crisis, rather than the advent of a new one. While some scholars locate the origins of Malawian nationalism in the Chilembwe rebellion of 1915, Page sees that movement as a part of a larger pattern of responses to the war.