Book Reviews : Montesquieu: Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline. Translated, with Notes and an Introduction by DAVID LOWEN- THAL. (New York: The Free Press, 1965. Pp. x, 243. $5.95.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591296601900430
• Date: 01 December 1966
• Published date: 01 December 1966
• Subject Matter: Articles

753

notes

the

differences

between

the

rural

African

population

of

Pemba

(overwhelm-

ingly

Shirazi

and

not

alienated

from

the

land)

and

the

Africans

on

Zanzibar

(alienated

from

the

most

fertile

land,

increasingly

grouped

around

Zanzibar

Town,

and

more

evenly

mixed

between

Shirazi

and

mainland

African) .

Drawing

from

interviews

made

during

eighteen

months

of

field

research

on

Zanzibar

and

Pemba

in

the

period

immediately

preceding

independence

and

from

an

exhibition

of

scarce

and

ephemeral

political

literature

in

the

1950’s,

Lofchie

analyzes

in

turn

the

ultimately

unsuccessful

efforts

of

the

Arab

minority

to

main-

tain

its

favored

position

and

the

political

response

of

the

African

majority.

His

study

of

electoral

politics

and

voting

behavior

indicates

that

the

introduction

of

institutions

of

representative

government,

the

progressive

extension

of

suffrage

to

all

Zanzibaris,

and

above

all,

the

formation

of

political

parties,

contributed

to

an

aggravation

of

existing

tensions

between

various

racial

groups.

Yet

the

Arab

political

leadership,

astutely

utilizing

the

new

system

to

organize

an

Arab-con-

trolled

multiracial

party

(Zanzibar

National

party)

and

capitalizing

on

Shirazi

fears

of

mainland

Africans

(particularly

on

Pemba

where

the

Zanzibar

and

Pemba

People’s

party

was

wooed

and

won)

was

able

to

fashion

successive

narrow

electoral

victories.

Thus,

control

of

the

government

at

the

time

of

independence

remained

with

the

Arab

oligarchy

and

its

allies

despite

the

fact

that

the

all-African

opposi-

tion

party

(Afro-Shirazi

party)

had

won

54

per

cent

of

the

popular

vote

in

the

final

pre-independence

election.

Against

this

background

Lofchie

concludes

his

book

with

an

analysis

of

the

African

revolution

of

January

1964.

He

pointedly

emphasizes

that

the

revolution-

ary

coup

d’6tat

was

largely

the

personal

creation

of

John

Okello,

a

disgruntled

former

policeman

from

the

mainland.

Only

after

Okello

and

his

small

armed

force

had

overthrown

the

government

did

the

militant,

Marxist-inclined

dissidents

from

the

Afro-Shirazi

party

and

the

Zanzibar

National

party

move

to

form

a

new

African

government.

Lofchie’s

study

ends with

the

merger

of

Zanzibar

and

Tan-

ganyika

in

April

1964;

nevertheless

he

sets

the

stage

superbly

for

an

appreciation

of

the

continuing

drama

which

is

unfolding

in

the

Zanzibari

section

of

the

Tan-

zanian

Republic.

Brandeis

University

SHERIDAN

JOHNS

Montesquieu:

Considerations

on

the

Causes

of

the

Greatness

of

the

Romans

and

Their

Decline.

Translated,

with

Notes

and

an

Introduction

by

DAVID

LOWEN-

THAL.

(New

York:

The

Free

Press,

1965.

Pp.

x,

243.

$5.95.)

This

is

a

delightful

book.

David

Lowenthal

has rendered

a

service

of

real

value

in

making

available

a

new

translation

of

Montesquieu’s

book

on

the

Romans.

As

the

editor

points

out,

the

book

is

similar

in

important

ways

to

Machiavelli’s

Discourses.

Like

the

Discourses,

Montesquieu’s

study

purports

to

draw

inferences

about

the

nature

of

politics

from

an

examination

of selected

events

in

Roman

history.

The

translation

is,

so

far

as

I

have

been

able

to

determine,

quite

accurate.

It

is

certainly

lucid

and

readable.

Those

whose

familiarity

with

Montesquieu

is