"Violence has powerfully shaped the history and memory of the past in Matabeleland, from the wars of colonial conquest in the 1890s to the devastating post-colonial violence of the 1980s. The story told in this book concerns the remote, forested wilderness of the Shangani Reserve. It is the story of the settlement of a disease-ridden frontier and its transformation, first into the rural heartland of a nationalist movement, and later into a refuge for post-liberation 'dissidents'. " "Silence has surrounded the history of this region of Zimbabwe, and this silence has produced a profound sense of exclusion from national memory. This book helps to break that silence and redress the imbalances of national history. "--Back cover.