More than ten years into independance, Zimbabwe is a fascinating study in contradictory history and developement. Forged in the crucible of armed struggle against Rhodesian white settlers, Zimbabwe is a country in which lingering tendencies toward authoritarian rule coexist with the strong liberal nationalist currents that emerged with independance and with the form of Marxist-Leninist ideology associated with the leaderchip of Robert Mugabe. In this profile of one of the most distinctive countries in southern Africa, Dr Sylvester focuses on the continuities and discontinuities in the historical patterns of political economy.