So Far and No Further : Rhodesia's Bid for Independence During the Retreat from Empire 1959-1965 (Paperback)

Once in a lifetime comes a book which must force a total shift in the thinking persons perception of an epoch, and of all the prominent characters who featured in it This is the best informed book that has yet been produced on Rhodesia-Zimbabwe. "Once in a lifetime comes a book which must force a total shift in the thinking person's perception of an epoch, and of all the prominent characters who featured in it... This is the best informed book that has yet been produced on Rhodesia-Zimbabwe."
-- Michael Hartnack, Spectator

Given the headlong rush of the Macmillan government in Britain in 1959 to be rid of its colonies, Rhodesia should have been the first African colony in line for independence. Rhodesia was self-governing, and possessed most powers, including the right of self-defence. Being in the condition of New Zealand before the grant of dominion status, it seemed logical that Rhodesia would become a dominion. However, many obstacles hindered this political progression.

So Far and No Further! chronicles the British attempts to force white-ruled Rhodesia to accept the inevitability of majority rule, and to deny her independence on any other basis. Majority rule was something that Rhodesia's whites understood was inevitable, but they also knew that, until democratic practices were well grounded, it would be disastrous.

Dr Richard Wood, born in Bulawayo, is a Commonwealth Scholar, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a graduate of Rhodes and Edinburgh universities. He has enjoyed sole access to the hitherto closed papers of Ian Smith to write this book. So Far and No Further! complements his definitive The Welensky Papers: A History of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland: 1953-1963 and is the second book in the series, the third of which is A Matter of Weeks Rather than Months: The Impasse between Harold Wilson and Ian Smith: Sanctions, Aborted Settlements and War: 1965-1969. He is also the author of Counter-Strike from the Sky, about the Rhodesian Fireforce concept.