Between the Atlantic and the Namib

An Environmental History of Walvis Bay

by Melinda Silverman

70 p. • 37 b/w photos • 2004 • ISBN 99916-40-48-7 • 295 x 210 mm • Namibia Scientific Society/Kuiseb Publishers

The book is an account of environmental change in Walvis Bay in relation to urban, social and economic development, with a particular focus on the post-war era. The booklet is set within the context of the Kuiseb Delta, Namib Desert, the Atlantic Ocean and the town and lagoon of Walvis Bay. It covers the pre-colonial period up to 1400, the period of European exploration 1400-1652, the European colonisation 1652-1920, the period of consolidation in the 1920s-1940s, the industrial expansion 1940s-1960s, the uncertain times 1970-1976, the period of annexation and reintegration 1977-1994, and thereafter (1994-2002).