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Editor — Allow me to paint a short motion picture in your beautiful imagination. With pure intent to entice your curiosity and contribute to the imminent well informed citizen in you.  

We start off our journey at the City Hall. The true North side, underneath the shade of many a large Marula tree. Surrounded by cream to brown stone pebble outdoor tiles, meticulously mown meadow green grass, and an explosion of colour and art from the Fife Street flower, sculpture and beadwork vendors.  

On our immediate left is the 50-60 feet deep Issels well. So named after a Mr Francois Issels who sank it using explosives in 1895.  Once abandoned and filled in, the well was rediscovered and repaired in 1951. Solely so that it would supply the pool we see just a few feet overhead. The Pioneer’s Memorial Pool. A 66 foot body of fountain and sky clear water that leads us to a now absent Coghlan statue and to a gigantic brass relief depiction of the first of four indabas held in the Matopos in 1896 between the Matabele leaders and Rhodes.

We’re now beneath the Town Clock and the Chimes. The Elwyn Chimes in full for they were presented to the city by Mrs E L Wynne, who’d been a Bulawayo resident since 1898. The spellbinding array comprises five bells, the four bell chime thereof being Westminster Chimes. Try to ignore the charm of the cool seemingly ivory tiled foyer now. Don’t give in to the temptation of the staircase on either of our sides. And the picture frames that peep in through the landing. At least not yet, for we have arrived at the library.

A branch of the 1896 founded Bulawayo Public Library, this is the Historic Reference Collection. It was opened on July 31st, 1981, and dear reader this is one of the most interesting depositories of historic gems in this part of the country. Is this your first time here? Such enthusiasm. Well, while you take in the daffodil yellow walls, the eighteen pristine towering glass book shelves and cabinets just redolent with enlightenment, here is list of 105 reasons you should visit here more often. 105 fantastic historic books and where to find them. 

1. KAFIR LANGUAGE: Comprising a sketch of its history; which includes a general classification of South African dialects, ethnological and geographical; remarks upon its nature; and grammar. By the Rev John W. Appleyard. A Wesleyan missionary in British Kaffraria. 1850 

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2. A HAUSA-ENGLISH DICTIONARY AND ENGLISH-HAUSA VOCABULARY. Compiled for the government of Nigeria. By the Rev. G.P Bargery. With some notes on the Hausa people and their language by Professor D. Westerman. 1934 

3. AMONG THE IBOS OF NIGERIA. An account of the curious and interesting habits, customs and beliefs of a little known African people by one who has for many years lived amongst them, on close and intimate terms. 

1921 4. THE VANISHING TRIBES OF KENYA. A description of the manners and customs of the primitive and interesting tribes dwelling on the vast Southern slopes of Mount Kenya, and their fast disappearing native methods of life.  By Major St J. Orde Browne. 

1925 5. A MISSION TO GELELE, KING OF DAHOME. With notices of the so called ‘Amazons,’ the grand customs, the yearly customs, the human sacrifices, the present state of the slave trade, and the Negro’s place in nature. Vol 1 & 2 By Captain Sir Richard F. Burton.  

6. A WOMAN’S WINTER IN AFRICA. A 26 000 Mile journey.  By Charlotte Cameron. 

1913 7. SPEECHES ON THE AFFAIRS OF WEST AFRICA AND SOUTH AFRICA.  By Henry Howard Molynuex. Fourth Earl of Carnavon. 

1903 8. SELECT CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATING SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY. 1795-1910.  Selected and edited with an introduction by G. W. Eybers. 

1918 9. TRADITIONAL CEREMONIES OF AMANDEBELE.  By Phathisa Nyathi. 

2001 10. A SKETCH OF THE MODERN LANGUAGES OF AFRICA. Accompanied by a language map. By Robert Needham Cust. Barrister at war and late of her Majesty’s Indian Civil Service. 

1883 11. BANTU BELIEFS AND MAGIC. With particular reference to the Kikuyu and Kamba tribes of Kenya colony; together with some reflections on East Africa after the war. By C. W Hobley. 

1922 12. SKETCHES OF ENGLISH CHURCH HISTORY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. From 1795 to 1848. By James Alexander Hewitt. 

1887 13. THE PLANTING OF CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA.  By C. D Groves. 

1948 14. CUSTOM AND CONFLICT IN AFRICA. By Max Gluckman. 

1963. 15. SULTAN TO SULTAN. Adventures among the Masai and other tribes of East Africa.  By French Sheldon. 

1898 16. TRADE POLITICS AND CHRISTIANITY IN AFRICA AND THE EAST. By A. J Macdonald. M.A. With an introduction by Sir Harry Johnston. 

1916. 17. ADAMANTAI. The truth about the South African diamond fields: Or, a vindication of the right of the Orange Free State to that territory, and an analysis of British Diplomacy and aggression which has resulted in its illegal seizure by the governor of the Cape of Good Hope. By Captain Augustus F. Lindley. 

1873. 18. BULAWAYO BURNING. The social history of a Southern African city. (1893-1960)  By Terence Ranger. 

2010. 19. THE KILIMANJARO EXPEDITION. A record of scientific exploration in Eastern equatorial Africa and a general description of the natural history, languages, and commerce of the Kilima-njaro district.  By H. H Johnson. 

1886 20. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE BANTU AND SEMI-BANTU LANGUAGES. By Sir Harry H. Johnston.

1919. 21.  OFFICIAL YEARBOOK OF THE COLONY OF SOUTHERN RHODESIA. Containing general information and statistics, no.1. 

1924. 22. PROCEEDINGS OF THE RHODESIA SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION. Vol 1 (1899-1900) 

1903. 23. THE NORTHERN RHODESIA JOURNAL. Vol 1 (1950-1952) 

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24. CHIEFS AND COUNCILS IN RHODESIA. Transition from patriarchal to bureaucratic power. A. K. H Weinrich. 

1971. 25. RHODESIA AND INDEPENDENCE. A study in British colonial policy by Kenneth Young. 

1967. 26. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS SOLDIERING IN SOUTH AFRICA. A personal narrative. By Harry Vernon Woon, a colonial officer. 

1909. 27. THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. The sources of the Nile around the great lakes of equatorial Africa and down the Livingstone river to the Atlantic ocean.  By Henry M. Stanley. 

1897. 28. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A BORDER POLICEMAN. A narrative of war and adventure in Bechuanaland and Matabeleland.  By Lt Col. H. L Stevens. 

1927 29. ZAMBESI CAMP FIRES.  By Robert Sutherland. With Illustrations. 

1935 30. THE YELLOW AND DARK–SKINNED PEOPLE OF AFRICA SOUTH OF THE ZAMBESI. A description of bushmen, the hottentots, and particularly the bantu, with fifteen plates and numerous folklore tales of these different people.  By George McCall Theal. 

1910. 31. THE RIGHT TO SAY NO: Rhodesia 1972.  By Judith Todd. 

1987 32. MISSIONARY LABORS AND SCENES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.  By Robert Moffat. 

1842. 33. THE JOURNALS OF ELIZABETH LEES PRICE. Written in Bechuanaland, Southern Africa. 1854-1883 with an epilogue. 1989 and 1900. Edited with introduction, annotations, etc.  By Una Long for Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. 

1956. 34. MAGIC, DIVINATION AND WITCHCRAFT AMONG THE BAROTSE OF NORTHERN RHODESIA.  By Barrie Reynolds. 

1963 35. THE CROWDED HOURS. The story of ‘Sos’ Cohen. By Anthony Richardson. 

1952. 36. SPORT AND TRAVEL. EAST AND WEST. By Frederick Courtney Selous. 

1900 37. PEASANTS, TRADERS, AND WIVES. Shona women in the history of Zimbabwe, 1870-1939.  By Elizabeth Schmidt. 

1992 38. THE KING’S ASSEGAI. A matabili story.  By Bertram Mitford. 

1894 39. APPRENTICESHIP AT KURUMAN. Being the journals and letters of Robert and Mary Moffat (1820-1828) edited by I. Schapera. 

1951. 40. THE GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM IN SOUTHEN RHODESIA. By D. J. Murray. 

1970. 41. LOVE IN THE WILDERNESS. The story of another African farm.  By Gertrude Page. 

42. THE ELDORADO OF THE ANCIENTS. By Dr. Carl Peters. 

1902. 43. SALLY IN RHODESIA. By Sheila MacDonald. 

1926. 44. THE BIRTH OF A DILEMMA. The conquest and settlement of Rhodesia.  By Philip Mason. 

1958. 45. SOME LETTERS FROM LIVINGSTONE (1840-1872) Edited by David Chamberlin. 

1940. 46. AFRICA SLUMBERING GIANT?  By Michael McNeile. 1959  

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 47. UNDER MY SKIN. Volume One of my autobiography, to 1949 By Doris Lessing. 

Doris was the author of 15 novels, 11 short story and 1 poetry compilation’ 8 non fiction books, 5 children of violence sequence books and 3 dramas as of at the publication of Under my skin. 

48. JUDGEMENT ON GERMAN AFRICA. By G. L. Steer. 

1939. 49. JOURNAL OF THE DISCOVERY. The source of the Nile. By John Hanning Speke. 

1863. 50. YAKUSU. The very heart of Africa. Being some account of the Protestant Mission at Stanley Falls, Upper Congo. By H. Sutton Smith. 

51. THE PERIPLUS OF THE ERYTHRAEAN SEA. Travel and trade in the Indian ocean by a merchant of the first century. Translated from the Greek and annotated by Wilfred H. Schoff, A. M 

1912 52. THE BAGESU AND THE OTHER TRIBES OF THE UGANDA PROTECTORATE. The third part of the report of the Mackie ethnological expedition to Central Africa.  By John Roscoe. 

1924. 53. THE GREAT BETRAYAL. The memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith. By Himself. 

1997 54. ZANZIBAR. The Island metropolis of Eastern Africa.  By Major F. B Pearce. 

1920.  55. HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF DISCOVERIES AND TRAVELS IN AFRICA. From the earliest ages to present time; including the substance of the late Dr. Leyden’s work on that subject.  By Hugh Murray. Vol 1. 

1818. 56. IVORY SOURCE OF AFRICA.  By E. D Moore. 

1931. 57. THE CAPE COLOUR QUESTION. A historical survey.  By W. M. Macmillan. 

1927 58. THE ORIGINS AND GROWTH OF THE MAU MAU. An historical survey.

59. DICTIONARY OF THE CHICHEWA LANGUAGE. Being the encyclopaedic dictionary of the Mang’ anja language.  By Rev-David Clement Scott. 

1929 60. SCIENCE IN AFRICA. A review of scientific research relating to tropical and Southern Africa.  By E. B Worthington 

61. CONGO LIFE AND FOLKLORE. Part 1- Life on the Congo. As described by a brass rod; Part 2-Thirty three native stories, as told round the evening fires. By Rev. John H. Weeks. 

1911 62. THE WITWATERSRAND GOLDFIELDS BLANKET AND MINING PRACTICE.  By S. J Truscoh. 

1898 63. SOUTH-AFRICAN BUTTERFLIES: A monograph of the extra- tropical species. By Roland Trimen. Assisted by James Henry Bouker. 

1887 64. A COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR OF THR SOUTH AFRICAN BANTU LANGUAGES. Comprising those of Zanzibar, Mozambique, the Zambezi, Kafirland, Benguela, Angola, the Congo, the Ogowe, the Cameroons, the lake region etc.  By J. Torrend of the Zambezi mission. 

65. AN AFRICAN ATTILA. Tales of the Zulu reign of terror.  By P. A. Stuart. 

1938 66. A HISTORY OF THE ZULU REBELLIONS. 1906 and of Dimizulu’s arrest, trial, and expatriation.  By J. Stuart 

67. LOBENGULA. By Hugh Marshall Hole. 1929. 

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 68. SCOUTING ON TWO CONTINENTS.  By Major Frederick Russell Burham. 

1926 69. REAL SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE.  By Richard Harding Davis 

70. ON THE THRESHOLD OF CENTRAL AFRICA. A record of twenty years’ pioneering among the Barotsi of the Upper Zambesi. By Francois Coillard. 

1897. 71. THINGS THAT COULD NOT BE SAID. From A(IDS) to Zimbabwe.  By Frank Chikane. 

2013 72. THE INDIAN MINORITY OF ZAMBIA, RHODESIA AND MALAWI. By Floyd Dotson and Lillian O. Dotson. 

1968. 73. THE WAY TO ILALA. David Livingstone’s pilgrimage. By Frank Debenham.

1955 74. BEYOND THE SMOKE THAT THUNDERS.   By Lucy Pope Cullen. 

1940 75. FAREWELL TO FARMS. De-agrarianisation and employment in Africa.  Edited by Deborah Fahy Bryceson and Vah Jamal. 

1997 76. JOHN BOYES. King of the Wa-Kikuyu. A true story of travel and adventure in Africa. By Himself. 

1911. 77. LIMPOPO JOURNEY.  By Carel Birkby. 

1939 78. LESSONS FROM THE VARSITY OF LIFE.  By Lord Barden-Powell of Gilwell. 

1933. 79. BADEN POWELL. The hero of MAFIKENG.  By W. Francis Aitken. 

80. MEDIEVAL RHODESIA.  By David Randall-Maciver. 

1906 81. BULAWAYO’S CHANGING SKYLINE. 1893-1980.  By Alex D. Jack. With text by Louis W. Bolze. 

1979 82. ZIMBABWE’S INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. Fantasy, reality and the making of the state. Julia Gallagher. 

2017 83. CITIZEN OF ZIMBABWE. Conversations with Morgan Tsvangirai.  By Stephen Chan. 

2010 84. A HUMANIST IN AFRICA. Letters to Colin M. Morris from Kenneth D. Kaunda. President of Zambia. 

1966 85. THE PASSING OF THE BLACK KINGS.  By Hugh Marshall Hole 

86. RISING STAR. The making of Barack Obama. By David J. Garrow. 

2017 87. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. Non-violent strategies and tactics for social change. By John Ausbro. 

1982 88. THE FEAR. The last days of Robert Mugabe. By Peter Godwin. 

2010 89. CATASTROPHE. What went wrong in Zimbabwe? By Richard Bourne. 

2011 6 90. HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE. Gukurahundi; white people in Zimbabwe; 2008-2009 Zimbabwean political negotiations; Rhodesian bush war; second Congo war; 2008-2009 Zimbabwean cholera outbreak; Great Zimbabwe; operation murambatsvina; military history of Zimbabwe.  By Books LLC 

91. OLIVER TAMBO REMEMBERED.  Editted by Z. Pallo Jordan. 2007 

92. THE WHITE HEROES OF ZIMBABWE. By Aeneas Chigwedere. 

2017 93. THE HISTORICAL DIMENSIONS OF DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN ZIMBABWE. Vol 1. Precolonial and colonial legacies.  Edited by Ngwabi Bhebhe. 

2001 94. MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN.  By Ben Freeth. 

2011 95. IMAGES OF AFRICA. Creation, negotiation and subversion. Edited by Julia Gallagher. 2015 96. MUGABE’S WAR MACHINE. Saving or savaging Zimbabwe.  By Paul Moorcraft. 

2011 97. MUGABE. Power and plunder in Zimbabwe. By Martin Meredith. 

2002 98. THE BATTLE FOR ZIMBABWE. The final countdown.  By Geoff Hill. 

2003 99. CRY ZIMBABWE. Independence — Twenty years on. By Peter Stiff. 

2000 100. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. The Zimbabwe connection.  By Harry Naismith. 

2011 101. JOSHUA NKOMO. Father Zimbabwe. The life and times of an African legend.  By Fortune Senamile Nkomo. 

2013 102. NKOMO. Story of my life.  By Himself. 

1984 103. WHY MUGABE WON. The 2013 elections in Zimbabwe and their aftermath.  By Stephen Chan and Julia Gallagher. 

2017 104. THE GREAT BETRAYAL. The memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith.  By himself.

1997 105. THE TIMES. Late London newspaper editions.  1922- 1941 

– Regards, Nathaniel Z. Mpofu H.R.C Librarian