I am researching the routes of the Cairo-Cape railways as part of my PhD. Tanzania's Central Line, from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, was built by the Germans and there seems to be little about it in English. I am looking for historical sources on its building, anecdotal material and material about its impact on the local people, together with its importance in the German colonial endeavour. Unfortunately, I don't speak German, but may be able to get help translating short references. Thanks for your help.
I am not an expert, though I had been teaching in Windhoek once. But as a postdoc Humboldt fellow in Frankfurt am Main I had a fellow-post doc who was a young Brit specialiizng in history of East Africa, namely Adam Jones. Might lead somewhere. Good luck
Greetings, Melissa,
Not my field, but maybe Prof/Dr. Isabel Hull at Cornell/History might be able to help. Absolute Destruction does not deal with the rail as I recall, but she has done some outstanding research on German "colonialism." Drop her an email.
Frits, thanks. Linda, thanks for the lead. I will certainly look up Prof Hull. And sorry for not replying sooner - my email system decided to bury notifications of your replies as spam! I've just seen them.
Juhani Koponen's published PhD dissertation is a good start, also get in touch with Julio Decker: http://africa.harvard.edu/event/land-labor-and-colonial-railways-in-german-southwest-africa/
Hi Melissa. Do you know M.F. Hill, The Permanent Way: The Story of the Kenya and Uganda Railway. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau. 1949 (2nd ed. 1961, rpr. 1976)? Stuff in there that could be helpful.
Thanks, Laurence. It's on my list but I haven't read it yet. I hadn't thought about it in connection with the Tanzanian railway – I'm also writing about the Kenyan one. And by the way, a friend put me onto your book on SA railway poetry and it's given me the inspiration for the introduction to my book, so many thanks! Very interesting.
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