Book excerpt: Education has always had a very special role in the social and political history of Tanzania. After independence President Nyerere and his government set out to educate the mass of the population through the intensive programme of 'Education for Self-Reliance'. It was a key example of the efforts to use education as a weapon of social engineering. This book puts that programme in the context of the history of education during the British Mandate from 1919 until independence in 1961. There were some aspects of continuity before and after independence. Lene Buchert's analysis focuses on the discrepancies between formulated and implemented policies. She has examined the performance of the national educational system and selected educational institutions and programmes. Another important aspect comes from the investigation of the interaction between in-school educational and out-of-school non-educational factors. The book provides valuable material for interdisciplinary social science courses, innovative courses on historical methodology or general courses in African history or comparative education.