The House of Phalo: History of the Xhosa People in the Days of Their Independence by Jeff B. Peires (Author)

ISBN: 9781868421596

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jonathan Ball Publishers; New Ed edition (October 31, 2003)

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 278 pages

In this, the first modern history of the Xhosa, J B Peires relates the story of one of the most numerous and important indigenous peoples in contemporary South Africa, from their consolidation, through an era of co-operation and conflict with whites (whom the Xhosa regarded as uncivilized) to the frontier wars that eventuated in their present position as a subordinate group in the modern South African state. Incorporating their own oral and written testimony into a modern historical and ethnographic framework, the author examines the response of the Xhosa to the successive challenges of contact with whites; the adaptation of Xhosa cosmology to Christianity; the increasing dependence of the Xhosa on military technology in defense of their lands.
The House of Phalo takes its place in a growing body of literature that measures the impact of white rule on African peoples in South Africa.