“Gardner Thompson has stepped forward with a nuanced history of colonial Southern Rhodesia that culminates in a judicious conclusion. His thoughtful and thought-provoking book shows the way forward.” —Nigel Biggar, author of Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning "A valuable read on an almost forgotten moment in late empire…. Thompson captures well the dilemma that faced Rhodesia’s white settlers, who missed a real chance for something better than the bush war and Mugabe."—Matthew Parris, Times (London) columnist and former UK member of Parliament "Wrestles with the complexities of the politics of race and racial domination in Rhodesia.... A provocative take on Rhodesian history."—Munya Munochiveyi, College of the Holy Cross

Gardner Thompson offers a fresh history of British rule in Southern Rhodesia, from the first colonial settlements in Mashonaland in the 1890s to the establishment of the country's sovereignty as Zimbabwe. 

After tracing developments in the early decades, Thompson turns to the post–World War II debate about the colony's future direction—which pitted progressive settlers against the increasingly racialist conservative core—the impact of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, and the many damaging consequences of the choices that were made. Not least, he assesses the legacy of Rhodesian colonialism in postcolonial Zimbabwe.