Foreword: This volume of Permanent Way is described by Mr. Hill as the story of the Tanganyika Railways. It is a fascinating story; however, it is really a story of Tanganyika against the background of the railways and for those who are not intereste in the technicalities of trains, it is still an absorbing historical summary.

First words: Africa has been described as the continent without a history. The generalisation is not entirely accurate, but except for strips along the coast-line, notably the Mediterranean littoral, and a deep incursion down the valley of the Nile, Africa resisted the intrusion of civilisation for many centuries.