Newly reissued, this book is still regarded as one of the best synthesis of ethnographic research undertaken amongst the Shona people, taking indigenous religion and culture as a starting point. The author, a renowned anthropologist and sociologist of Zimbabwe, examines the historical background and sources of Shona history from the fifteenth century. He details, from anthropological perspectives, kinship and village organisation including patrilineal kinship, Shona marriage and the position of women in Shona society. The author explores the subsistence and cash economies of the Shona peoples, their contribution to commercial farming, their use of land, and their function as a migrant labour force. Further sections focus on chiefship, courts; and interpretations of sickness, personal misfortune, witchcraft, death and the afterlife. The final sections of the book consider the functions of traditional religion at family and tribal levels; the interface between traditional and new religions; and rural and urban influences, amongst the Shona people.

'Another World is Possible' examines the many peoples who have mobilized religion and spirituality to forge identity. Some claim direct links to indigenous spiritual practices; others have appropriated externally introduced religions, modifying these with indigenous perspectives and practices. The voices of Black people from around the world are presented in essays ranging from the Indian subcontinent, Japan and Australia to Africa, the UK and the USA. From creation narratives to trickster heroes, from the role of spirituality in HIV positive South Africa to its place in mental health and among the poor, spirituality is shown to be essential to the survival of individuals and communities.

Africa's Shona people built the massively impressive fourteenth-century stone walls of Great Zimbabwe. In recent history they fought the white settlers who created Rhodesia; today they form the majority of the population of modern Zimbabwe. David Beach's unique study of the Shona and neighbouring Ndebele, Gaza Nguni and others links archaeology, anthropology and linguistics studies with oral traditions and later written evidence.

Zimbabwe's Cultural Heritage won first prize in the Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association Awards in 2006 for Non-fiction: Humanities and Social Sciences. It is a collection of pieces of the culture of the Ndebele, Shona, Tonga, Kalanga, Nambiya, Xhosa and Venda. The book gives the reader an insight into the world view of different peoples, through descriptions of their history and life events such as pregnancy, marriage and death. "...the most enduring book ever on Zimbabwean history. This book will help people change their attitude towards each other in Zimbabwe." - Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association Awards citation