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Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa
The Barnes & Noble Review
January 1998
Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa is the story of Peter Godwin's experiences growing up in Rhodesia. He recounts the story of that country's violent transformation into Zimbabwe, as well as his own personal metamorphoses from privileged boy to reluctant soldier to investigative journalist.
January 1998
Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa is the story of Peter Godwin's experiences growing up in Rhodesia. He recounts the story of that country's violent transformation into Zimbabwe, as well as his own personal metamorphoses from privileged boy to reluctant soldier to investigative journalist.
Godwin's story begins, "I think I first realized something was wrong when our next door neighbor, Oom Piet Oberholzer, was murdered. I must have been about five then. It was still five years before the real war would start." The Godwins enjoyed a typical genteel existence in 1960 rural Rhodesia, their household including a "garden boy," a "cook boy," and a nanny. Peter's father managed a wood- and sugarcane-processing plant. His mother, a rural government doctor, was often called to pronounce deaths or conduct autopsies, for which she brought along her "assistant," five-year-old Peter, who was responsible for shooing away the flies.
Godwin's plans for attending college were squashed when he was drafted into the Rhodesian army and assigned to the "Anti-Terrorist Unit," which proved to be an important experience in his life. When he later looked at himself, he saw a man "coursed through with anger and despair. It was the face of someone who would kill an unarmed civilian for withholding information." Disturbed by what he had become, Godwin left Rhodesia after he got out of the army, only to return in 1981 as a journalist. Rhodesia was now Zimbabwe, and the "terrorists" he had reluctantly fought against were now the country's rulers.
Godwin reported on theutterbrutalities in Zimbabwe and the fate of Matabeleland, a black minority region in Zimbabwe. He described the army style of interrogation, in which "before they even began to question you, they would break one wrist," and wrote about the old mines where bodies of the dead were buried. When Godwin's writings received worldwide attention, the Zimbabwean government tried to discredit him, and he received numerous death threats, escaping the country just hours before the police came looking for him.
Mukiwa is not only a memoir but also a compelling adventure story that tells a personal saga that needs to be heard.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
185 people are currently reading
5424 people want to read
About the author
Peter Godwin
20 books355 followers"Peter Godwin was born and raised in Africa. He studied law at Cambridge University, and international relations at Oxford. He is an award winning foreign correspondent, author, documentary-maker and screenwriter.
After practicing human rights law in Zimbabwe, he became a foreign and war correspondent, and has reported from over 60 countries, including wars in: Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Somalia, Congo, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kashmir and the last years of apartheid South Africa. He served as East European correspondent and Diplomatic correspondent for the London Sunday Times, and chief correspondent for BBC television's flagship foreign affairs program, Assignment, making documentaries from such places as: Cuba, Panama, Indonesia, Pakistan, Spain, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Baltics, and the Balkans as it descended into war. His film, The Industry of Death, about the sex trade in Thailand, won the gold medal for investigative film at the New York Film Festival.
He also wrote and co-presented a three part series 'Africa Unmasked' for Britain's Channel Four. He has written for a wide array of magazines and newspapers including Vanity Fair, (for which he was a 2009 finalist for the Michael Kelly award) National Geographic, New York Times magazine and Men’s Journal.
He is the author of five non fiction books: 'Rhodesians Never Die' - The Impact of war and Political Change on White Rhodesia c.1970 - 1980 (with Ian Hancock), Wild at Heart: Man and Beast in Southern Africa (with photos by Chris Johns and foreword by Nelson Mandela), The Three of Us - a New Life in New York (with Joanna Coles) and Mukiwa, which received the George Orwell prize and the Esquire-Apple-Waterstones award. When a Crocodile Eats the Sun - a Memoir of Africa, won the Borders Original Voices Award, and was selected by American Libraries Association as a Notable Book winner for 2008.
He has taught writing at: the New School, Princeton and Columbia. And he is a 2010 Guggenheim Fellow."
http://petergodwin.com/about/
After practicing human rights law in Zimbabwe, he became a foreign and war correspondent, and has reported from over 60 countries, including wars in: Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Somalia, Congo, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kashmir and the last years of apartheid South Africa. He served as East European correspondent and Diplomatic correspondent for the London Sunday Times, and chief correspondent for BBC television's flagship foreign affairs program, Assignment, making documentaries from such places as: Cuba, Panama, Indonesia, Pakistan, Spain, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Baltics, and the Balkans as it descended into war. His film, The Industry of Death, about the sex trade in Thailand, won the gold medal for investigative film at the New York Film Festival.
He also wrote and co-presented a three part series 'Africa Unmasked' for Britain's Channel Four. He has written for a wide array of magazines and newspapers including Vanity Fair, (for which he was a 2009 finalist for the Michael Kelly award) National Geographic, New York Times magazine and Men’s Journal.
He is the author of five non fiction books: 'Rhodesians Never Die' - The Impact of war and Political Change on White Rhodesia c.1970 - 1980 (with Ian Hancock), Wild at Heart: Man and Beast in Southern Africa (with photos by Chris Johns and foreword by Nelson Mandela), The Three of Us - a New Life in New York (with Joanna Coles) and Mukiwa, which received the George Orwell prize and the Esquire-Apple-Waterstones award. When a Crocodile Eats the Sun - a Memoir of Africa, won the Borders Original Voices Award, and was selected by American Libraries Association as a Notable Book winner for 2008.
He has taught writing at: the New School, Princeton and Columbia. And he is a 2010 Guggenheim Fellow."
http://petergodwin.com/about/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 332 reviews
November 9, 2024
If you have an Audible subscription you get a certain number of “credits” in a year which you can use to purchase books. However additional books are also offered as “included with membership”. The fact there is no extra cost often tempts me into reading books I would not otherwise have chosen, and that’s how I came to listen to this memoir by Peter Godwin.
The book covers the early part of the author’s life in what was Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. He was born in 1957 and was effectively expelled from the country in the 80s. The narrative starts in about 1964. The first section covers his childhood and school days. The aspect of growing up in Africa is pretty interesting, his schooldays a bit less so (although, for me, the English-style boarding school is almost as a strange an environment as an African upbringing). What saves this section of the book is the humour, which is excellent. I think my favourite bits of all were the stories and sayings of Isaac, the head herdsman on the family estate.
The humour disappears in the second part of the book, for good reason. At 17 Godwin was conscripted into the Rhodesian armed forces. Rather than the Army, he managed to enlist in what was still called the British South Africa Police. The white population of the country was so small that the Rhodesian government was very strict with conscription, and the deteriorating security situation meant that the BSAP effectively became merged with the military. The description of the Rhodesian Bush War was really quite harrowing. Even as a teenager, Godwin knew that all the Rhodesian military could do was to try and “hold the line” while the politicians sorted out a settlement. The death and destruction must have seemed a terrible waste.
The Rhodesian War received extensive coverage on TV in the UK during the 1970s. The country was still de jure a British colony, although it had been de facto independent since 1965. I can recall, as an 18-year-old, the TV coverage of the first “one man, one vote” election, won by Robert Mugabe. I’m afraid that I was one of those fools who, at the time, thought Mugabe was one of the good guys. In my defence I can only plead my youth and ignorance, and the fact I was far from being the only one.
After the end of the war Godwin qualified as a lawyer. One of his first cases involved defending a former senior commander from the guerrillas, who had fallen foul of Mugabe. In working with his client, Godwin had felt embarrassed about his own role in the war, but the other man had been unconcerned, simply remarking that they had both been soldiers; just ones who fought on different sides.
Godwin became disillusioned with the ineffectiveness of being a lawyer in a country where government power was increasingly wielded in arbitrary fashion. He switched to journalism, and the last part of the book covers his reporting on the appalling atrocities committed during a period of mass rape and murder inflicted by the new government on the minority ethnic group the author calls the Matabele [Northern Ndbele]. The Mugabe regime was unimpressed with his activities, and he showed considerable courage in persevering. Once again, we are reminded that getting rid of an unattractive regime does not necessarily lead to its replacement by a better one.
The book ends on a very sombre note, but a very affecting one. An absolutely superb memoir.
The book covers the early part of the author’s life in what was Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. He was born in 1957 and was effectively expelled from the country in the 80s. The narrative starts in about 1964. The first section covers his childhood and school days. The aspect of growing up in Africa is pretty interesting, his schooldays a bit less so (although, for me, the English-style boarding school is almost as a strange an environment as an African upbringing). What saves this section of the book is the humour, which is excellent. I think my favourite bits of all were the stories and sayings of Isaac, the head herdsman on the family estate.
The humour disappears in the second part of the book, for good reason. At 17 Godwin was conscripted into the Rhodesian armed forces. Rather than the Army, he managed to enlist in what was still called the British South Africa Police. The white population of the country was so small that the Rhodesian government was very strict with conscription, and the deteriorating security situation meant that the BSAP effectively became merged with the military. The description of the Rhodesian Bush War was really quite harrowing. Even as a teenager, Godwin knew that all the Rhodesian military could do was to try and “hold the line” while the politicians sorted out a settlement. The death and destruction must have seemed a terrible waste.
The Rhodesian War received extensive coverage on TV in the UK during the 1970s. The country was still de jure a British colony, although it had been de facto independent since 1965. I can recall, as an 18-year-old, the TV coverage of the first “one man, one vote” election, won by Robert Mugabe. I’m afraid that I was one of those fools who, at the time, thought Mugabe was one of the good guys. In my defence I can only plead my youth and ignorance, and the fact I was far from being the only one.
After the end of the war Godwin qualified as a lawyer. One of his first cases involved defending a former senior commander from the guerrillas, who had fallen foul of Mugabe. In working with his client, Godwin had felt embarrassed about his own role in the war, but the other man had been unconcerned, simply remarking that they had both been soldiers; just ones who fought on different sides.
Godwin became disillusioned with the ineffectiveness of being a lawyer in a country where government power was increasingly wielded in arbitrary fashion. He switched to journalism, and the last part of the book covers his reporting on the appalling atrocities committed during a period of mass rape and murder inflicted by the new government on the minority ethnic group the author calls the Matabele [Northern Ndbele]. The Mugabe regime was unimpressed with his activities, and he showed considerable courage in persevering. Once again, we are reminded that getting rid of an unattractive regime does not necessarily lead to its replacement by a better one.
The book ends on a very sombre note, but a very affecting one. An absolutely superb memoir.
August 10, 2015
“In those days we called African men ‘boys’. We had cook boys and garden boys, however old they might be. African nannies we called girls.”
I think I quite purposely avoided memoirs written by white Africans. I was afraid of their 'good old days' nostalgia and I had no interest in hearing about their blissful colonial childhoods.
This, however, was nothing like this. Even though some reviewers claim the first part of this memoir describes an innocent childhood in Rhodesia, I really fail to see just how carefree and innocent it really was. It does open with one of the narrator’s earliest memories – that of a murder of his neighbour by African guerrillas and what follows is not recommended for people with delicate stomachs.
Actually, what I liked most about this book was that Godwin didn’t try romanticise his Rhodesian childhood. He didn’t try to trivialise or ignore the instances of racism to make himself look better. His narrative voice is that of a child and is not allowed a hindsight.
That is not to say there aren’t any cute and entertaining episodes, like the story of the author’s dog Sally, a Dalmatian that was at first confused with a leopard, and then routinely kidnapped once people realised bringing her back would earn them a little money in reward.
As the narrator grows his voice changes, making the book better and richer. It ends up being good at so many different things that it confuses the internet recommendation algorithms which tell you that ‘if you liked this you should try that’.
As a very young soldier Godwin found himself fighting for the side he didn’t agree with morally. Growing up is always paired with disillusionment – but especially if you’re conscripted and have to take part in a war you don't believe in. This part of ‘Mukiwa’ is marked by Godwin’s proper racial awakening and the loss of innocence. I particularly remember a powerful scene when Godwin spots a graffiti on a hut: “Hate us and see if we mind” which then hunts him in his dreams in which he tries to scream back “but I don’t hate you!”
At the same time the reader can observe how easy it is for anyone, even the most liberal of us, to turn into a trigger-happy half-animal, concerned only with its own survival.
The last part of the book deals with the difficult patching up process after the end of the civil war and Godwin’s aborted law career and it’s possibly the most bitter of all the chapters. Godwin keeps writing books about Zimbabwe. Sadly, so far none of them were allowed happy endings.
“When they returned from the war, many of the guerrillas had kept on their chimurenga (nom de guerre) names as badges of honour. ‘Lookout’ was pretty benign compared to some. The Minister of Women’s Affairs was a formidable lady who still went by the name of Comrade Spillblood.”
I think I quite purposely avoided memoirs written by white Africans. I was afraid of their 'good old days' nostalgia and I had no interest in hearing about their blissful colonial childhoods.
This, however, was nothing like this. Even though some reviewers claim the first part of this memoir describes an innocent childhood in Rhodesia, I really fail to see just how carefree and innocent it really was. It does open with one of the narrator’s earliest memories – that of a murder of his neighbour by African guerrillas and what follows is not recommended for people with delicate stomachs.
Actually, what I liked most about this book was that Godwin didn’t try romanticise his Rhodesian childhood. He didn’t try to trivialise or ignore the instances of racism to make himself look better. His narrative voice is that of a child and is not allowed a hindsight.
That is not to say there aren’t any cute and entertaining episodes, like the story of the author’s dog Sally, a Dalmatian that was at first confused with a leopard, and then routinely kidnapped once people realised bringing her back would earn them a little money in reward.
As the narrator grows his voice changes, making the book better and richer. It ends up being good at so many different things that it confuses the internet recommendation algorithms which tell you that ‘if you liked this you should try that’.
As a very young soldier Godwin found himself fighting for the side he didn’t agree with morally. Growing up is always paired with disillusionment – but especially if you’re conscripted and have to take part in a war you don't believe in. This part of ‘Mukiwa’ is marked by Godwin’s proper racial awakening and the loss of innocence. I particularly remember a powerful scene when Godwin spots a graffiti on a hut: “Hate us and see if we mind” which then hunts him in his dreams in which he tries to scream back “but I don’t hate you!”
At the same time the reader can observe how easy it is for anyone, even the most liberal of us, to turn into a trigger-happy half-animal, concerned only with its own survival.
The last part of the book deals with the difficult patching up process after the end of the civil war and Godwin’s aborted law career and it’s possibly the most bitter of all the chapters. Godwin keeps writing books about Zimbabwe. Sadly, so far none of them were allowed happy endings.
“When they returned from the war, many of the guerrillas had kept on their chimurenga (nom de guerre) names as badges of honour. ‘Lookout’ was pretty benign compared to some. The Minister of Women’s Affairs was a formidable lady who still went by the name of Comrade Spillblood.”
January 23, 2011
author!
December 29, 2017
OK, close enough to the end of 2017 for me to determine my favourite reads. Mukiwa is my 2017 BEST BIOGRAPHY.
This is a fantastically well written autobiography. It really puts a human face to the white Zimbabwean's who are stereotyped as racist bigots, seen as on the wrong side of the black majority/white minority history of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.
Godwin's recollection of his childhood, and the writing style he employs for this section of the book is perfect. He writes the way he felt, interpreted events, and experienced his childhood - not a more recent interpretation of those events. It is very well done. And not an innocent childhood - it was a childhood you would consider harsh, and in some aspects, he grew up very quickly - the murder of a local man, and experiences with his mother - a doctor often called on to perform autopsies (which as a child he attended). There are some genuinely hilarious moments in the first half of this book.
Unfortunately for Godwin, this all changes with the civil war, which starts out as terrorist attacks / rebellions, and soon turns into war proper. Godwin (like all Rhodesians) is drafted in to the military, and the second part of his book tells of his military service. And a very capable soldier he turns out to be, but a soldier with a rare compassion and understanding of the problems. Again the author writes incredibly well in articulating a complex situation he finds himself in.
This book does well to explain in simple terms the Rhodesian rebellion / civil war. It was not as simple as a black rebellion against the white minority. There were factions - the ZAPU (led by Joshua Nkomo) and the ZANU (led by Robert Mugabe), who were are much fighting each other as the Rhodesian Security Forces (whom Godwin fought for). For years he petitioned to be released from military service to attend University, and finally he was permitted an exit visa. A sad family event followed, for which Godwin returned, only to be told he must re-inlist to complete his service.
Finally he was again allowed to leave to complete his University, whereupon he embarked on a short career as a lawyer, then moved into journalism, where he was posted to various parts of the world (which are given around a page in this book). His return to southern Africa, as a journalist is described in the third part of the book. More than a journalist, Godwin regularly puts himself at risk, and in danger to be able to report the atrocities in Zimbabwe (as it was now know), the systematic campaign of murder and torture, striving to tell the truth and expose the propaganda and lies of the government. Some of the stories he tells in this section are a terrible reflection of the way the human race can behave.
What becomes obvious throughout this book, as the stories unfold and interweave where Godwin has some absolutely miraculous escapes, is that his past deeds and behaviour seem to come back to reward him with opportunities and good fortune. His past relationships, his past actions, and some incredible luck mean he is alive to tell this story.
I enjoyed this book a lot, despite is grizzly content, and I will seek out more of his writing.
5 stars.
This is a fantastically well written autobiography. It really puts a human face to the white Zimbabwean's who are stereotyped as racist bigots, seen as on the wrong side of the black majority/white minority history of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.
Godwin's recollection of his childhood, and the writing style he employs for this section of the book is perfect. He writes the way he felt, interpreted events, and experienced his childhood - not a more recent interpretation of those events. It is very well done. And not an innocent childhood - it was a childhood you would consider harsh, and in some aspects, he grew up very quickly - the murder of a local man, and experiences with his mother - a doctor often called on to perform autopsies (which as a child he attended). There are some genuinely hilarious moments in the first half of this book.
Unfortunately for Godwin, this all changes with the civil war, which starts out as terrorist attacks / rebellions, and soon turns into war proper. Godwin (like all Rhodesians) is drafted in to the military, and the second part of his book tells of his military service. And a very capable soldier he turns out to be, but a soldier with a rare compassion and understanding of the problems. Again the author writes incredibly well in articulating a complex situation he finds himself in.
This book does well to explain in simple terms the Rhodesian rebellion / civil war. It was not as simple as a black rebellion against the white minority. There were factions - the ZAPU (led by Joshua Nkomo) and the ZANU (led by Robert Mugabe), who were are much fighting each other as the Rhodesian Security Forces (whom Godwin fought for). For years he petitioned to be released from military service to attend University, and finally he was permitted an exit visa. A sad family event followed, for which Godwin returned, only to be told he must re-inlist to complete his service.
Finally he was again allowed to leave to complete his University, whereupon he embarked on a short career as a lawyer, then moved into journalism, where he was posted to various parts of the world (which are given around a page in this book). His return to southern Africa, as a journalist is described in the third part of the book. More than a journalist, Godwin regularly puts himself at risk, and in danger to be able to report the atrocities in Zimbabwe (as it was now know), the systematic campaign of murder and torture, striving to tell the truth and expose the propaganda and lies of the government. Some of the stories he tells in this section are a terrible reflection of the way the human race can behave.
What becomes obvious throughout this book, as the stories unfold and interweave where Godwin has some absolutely miraculous escapes, is that his past deeds and behaviour seem to come back to reward him with opportunities and good fortune. His past relationships, his past actions, and some incredible luck mean he is alive to tell this story.
I enjoyed this book a lot, despite is grizzly content, and I will seek out more of his writing.
5 stars.
July 1, 2020
About 3 years ago I tried this author’s other book, The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe but really struggled to get into the highly political story.
This one however was much easier to connect with as it was written in the form of a memoir following the author’s childhood in Zimbabwe, his subsequent stint in the army and finally his time as a lawyer and journalist during the change of government in the 1980’s.
I have to say my favourite sections were that of his childhood. Particularly when young Peter's nanny brought him to the Apostolic church. His childhood memories reminded me a little of The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe which is hands down my favourite book of Zimbabwe.
As Peter got older and got forced to serve time in the military the narrative changed – as expected – to provide more insight into the politics and guerrilla warfare that happened all over Zimbabwe. How the locals suffered, stuck between the military and guerrillas with no relief from either side.
I found it quite ironic that as a lawyer he had to defend the same war criminals he fought against in the army.
As with all the books I read about Zimbabwe there are moments of hope but also many many accounts of atrocities, with no one coming out the winner.
This one however was much easier to connect with as it was written in the form of a memoir following the author’s childhood in Zimbabwe, his subsequent stint in the army and finally his time as a lawyer and journalist during the change of government in the 1980’s.
I have to say my favourite sections were that of his childhood. Particularly when young Peter's nanny brought him to the Apostolic church. His childhood memories reminded me a little of The Last Resort: A Memoir of Zimbabwe which is hands down my favourite book of Zimbabwe.
As Peter got older and got forced to serve time in the military the narrative changed – as expected – to provide more insight into the politics and guerrilla warfare that happened all over Zimbabwe. How the locals suffered, stuck between the military and guerrillas with no relief from either side.
I found it quite ironic that as a lawyer he had to defend the same war criminals he fought against in the army.
As with all the books I read about Zimbabwe there are moments of hope but also many many accounts of atrocities, with no one coming out the winner.
March 24, 2024
3.5 stars. I almost DNF'd this, but then Godwin got past public school years and into his war experiences, and how he felt about the war (stupid, unwinnable). Godwin's take on Ian Smith (a WW2 fighter pilot) was the same as my take on the American WW2 generation (McNamara, Nixon, Westmoreland) who thought winning in Vietnam would be a repeat of WW2 victory, even though the circumstances were entirely different. Their critical thinking abilities and / or moral courage left a little to be desired. Ian Smith deployed helicopters and fighter jets when what was needed was empathy for the majority Black population, investment in education and healthcare, and, at the most, a counter-insurgency effort along the lines of the one deployed by the British in Malaysia. Instead, without taking into account tribal rivalries in the country, Smith allowed a brute force approach to become the standard, something that was self-defeating, a truth which was obvious even to 18-year-old Peter Godwin. What was actually needed was a political solution, and it is fair to say that the UK failed as much as the White Rhodesians did on that front. But Godwin's account is not really high level political reporting; it's a first person account of his experience of the end of Rhodesia.
February 22, 2021
Part I takes place in Rhodesia and is told through the eyes and voice of a young, privileged white boy. His impressions start at six years old and continue until he finishes high school. He is a very bright and inquisitive young man - his thoughts and ideas are very “grown up”.
I wish I had read this before I read “When a Crocodile Eats the Sun”, I just like to read in chronological order. But I didn’t know!
Now to start Part II..........This takes us into Peter’s adult years as brutal wars crush Rhodesia and Zimbabwe and black power takes over the country. The author was very involved in the turmoil.
The book was written 25 years ago, but it seems that Africa has remained stagnant. Just yesterday the Italian Ambassador was gunned down in RD Congo, death and destruction just seems the norm.
Just a fun fact - this is the third book that acknowledges the Hippo as the most dangerous animal in Africa. It has killed more people than all other animals combined. Who would ever guess that?
I wish I had read this before I read “When a Crocodile Eats the Sun”, I just like to read in chronological order. But I didn’t know!
Now to start Part II..........This takes us into Peter’s adult years as brutal wars crush Rhodesia and Zimbabwe and black power takes over the country. The author was very involved in the turmoil.
The book was written 25 years ago, but it seems that Africa has remained stagnant. Just yesterday the Italian Ambassador was gunned down in RD Congo, death and destruction just seems the norm.
Just a fun fact - this is the third book that acknowledges the Hippo as the most dangerous animal in Africa. It has killed more people than all other animals combined. Who would ever guess that?
September 19, 2008
Peter Godwin certainly has a story to tell. It’s a story of an idyllic, if unusual childhood, a disrupted but eventually immensely successful education, military service and then two careers, one in law, planned but aborted, and then one in journalism, discovered almost by default. Listed like this these elements might sound just a bit mundane, perhaps not the subject of memoir. When one adds, however, the location, Rhodesia becoming Zimbabwe, the result is a deeply moving, in places deeply sad, as well as quite disturbing account of a life lived thus far. Mukiwa, by the way, is Shona for white man.
The setting for Peter Godwin’s early years was a middle class, professional and, crucially, liberal family living in eastern Rhodesia, close to the Mozambique border. I had relatives in that same area, near Umtali and Melsetter, and they used to do exactly what the Godwins did regularly which was to visit the Indian Ocean beaches near Beira. We used to get postcards from there every year, usually in the middle of our north of England winter. Envy wasn’t the word…
Peter Godwin’s mother was a doctor and this meant that his childhood was unusual in two respects. Not many youngsters in white households had liberal-minded parents and even fewer helped their mothers conduct post mortems. Unlike most mukiwa, Peter Godwin had black friends. He learned the local language and got to know the bush. He also grew up close to death and then lived alongside it during the years of the war of independence. He describes how the war simply took over everything and labels himself as a technician in its machinations. It’s a telling phrase, admitting that he did not himself want to fight anyone. Like everyone else, he was caught up in the struggle, required to actively perpetrate the violence and that is what he did.
His education was disrupted. His family life was effectively destroyed. And how he managed to keep his sanity during the period I have no idea. He served most of the period in Matebeleland alongside other members of the Rhodesian armed forces and police who were not, to say the least, as liberal as he was. So in some ways he was already doubly a foreigner in that he was working in an area where he could not speak the language and was accompanied by fellow countrymen with whom he shared no beliefs or ideals. And yet he had to fight.
I have never served in a war and hope I never will. But my relatives from the same area as Peter Godwin were also called up into national service and also fought the war. I had not seen them for fifteen years or so when we met after they, along with many thousands of others, as recorded by Peter Godwin, had already fled south. But for them also memories of war were deep and resented scars. It was a bloody and dirty war where, if you were lucky, you could at most trust your closest colleagues. It was a vicious conflict at times and left everyone angry. No-one won. Everyone suffered.
Having eventually achieved the education he sought, Peter Godwin attempted to launch a legal career. But then, almost by default, he became a reporter. After independence, he learned of atrocities perpetrated by the Zambabwean army in the area where he had served during the war. He investigated. He reported. And then, on advice, he fled.
But he did eventually return to all of the areas he knew and the last part of the book is a moving and deeply sad account of how little he recognised in the places he loved as a child. But within this, there is a moment of hope as he meets a former freedom fighter and, with humour and new friendship, the two of them realise that they had not only been enemies, but had actually been two commanders trying to kill one another on opposite sides of the same skirmish.
But in the end, Peter Godwin is changed man, and his home and homeland, at least as he had experienced them, were no more. War had changed everything and everyone. No-one won.
The setting for Peter Godwin’s early years was a middle class, professional and, crucially, liberal family living in eastern Rhodesia, close to the Mozambique border. I had relatives in that same area, near Umtali and Melsetter, and they used to do exactly what the Godwins did regularly which was to visit the Indian Ocean beaches near Beira. We used to get postcards from there every year, usually in the middle of our north of England winter. Envy wasn’t the word…
Peter Godwin’s mother was a doctor and this meant that his childhood was unusual in two respects. Not many youngsters in white households had liberal-minded parents and even fewer helped their mothers conduct post mortems. Unlike most mukiwa, Peter Godwin had black friends. He learned the local language and got to know the bush. He also grew up close to death and then lived alongside it during the years of the war of independence. He describes how the war simply took over everything and labels himself as a technician in its machinations. It’s a telling phrase, admitting that he did not himself want to fight anyone. Like everyone else, he was caught up in the struggle, required to actively perpetrate the violence and that is what he did.
His education was disrupted. His family life was effectively destroyed. And how he managed to keep his sanity during the period I have no idea. He served most of the period in Matebeleland alongside other members of the Rhodesian armed forces and police who were not, to say the least, as liberal as he was. So in some ways he was already doubly a foreigner in that he was working in an area where he could not speak the language and was accompanied by fellow countrymen with whom he shared no beliefs or ideals. And yet he had to fight.
I have never served in a war and hope I never will. But my relatives from the same area as Peter Godwin were also called up into national service and also fought the war. I had not seen them for fifteen years or so when we met after they, along with many thousands of others, as recorded by Peter Godwin, had already fled south. But for them also memories of war were deep and resented scars. It was a bloody and dirty war where, if you were lucky, you could at most trust your closest colleagues. It was a vicious conflict at times and left everyone angry. No-one won. Everyone suffered.
Having eventually achieved the education he sought, Peter Godwin attempted to launch a legal career. But then, almost by default, he became a reporter. After independence, he learned of atrocities perpetrated by the Zambabwean army in the area where he had served during the war. He investigated. He reported. And then, on advice, he fled.
But he did eventually return to all of the areas he knew and the last part of the book is a moving and deeply sad account of how little he recognised in the places he loved as a child. But within this, there is a moment of hope as he meets a former freedom fighter and, with humour and new friendship, the two of them realise that they had not only been enemies, but had actually been two commanders trying to kill one another on opposite sides of the same skirmish.
But in the end, Peter Godwin is changed man, and his home and homeland, at least as he had experienced them, were no more. War had changed everything and everyone. No-one won.
July 26, 2013
This book is divided into three sections. The first is about the author’s upbringing in what was then Rhodesia – the relationship to his parents and sister, schooling – the normal kind of stuff – except with a Rhodesian angle. There is a slowly escalating violence, but white Rhodesians continue to believe in the bubble they inhabit – unable to view life outside of this paradigm.
The writing throughout is matter-of-fact and reads well, almost like a novel. The second section concerns his recruitment for the police, but this is really like a paramilitary group. The author comes to realize more and more the moral quandary he finds both within himself and the country he was born in. All is on a slow fuse and we sense his futility in trying to maintain a status quo that is insupportable and is perpetuating needless violence.
The third part is about his return to what is now Zimbabwe and was the most interesting part of the autobiography. He is now both lawyer and journalist. His observations and explorations of his new country are poignant.
In general I found the first two parts somewhat filled with too many details (like the schooling – both public education and police instruction). One is left with the feeling throughout of seeing a lot of trees in the forest, but not getting a general overview of what the forest is like.
My favourite quote in the book (page 127 of my edition): “The axe forgets, but not the tree”.
The writing throughout is matter-of-fact and reads well, almost like a novel. The second section concerns his recruitment for the police, but this is really like a paramilitary group. The author comes to realize more and more the moral quandary he finds both within himself and the country he was born in. All is on a slow fuse and we sense his futility in trying to maintain a status quo that is insupportable and is perpetuating needless violence.
The third part is about his return to what is now Zimbabwe and was the most interesting part of the autobiography. He is now both lawyer and journalist. His observations and explorations of his new country are poignant.
In general I found the first two parts somewhat filled with too many details (like the schooling – both public education and police instruction). One is left with the feeling throughout of seeing a lot of trees in the forest, but not getting a general overview of what the forest is like.
My favourite quote in the book (page 127 of my edition): “The axe forgets, but not the tree”.
April 21, 2020
Something for Nothing; Nothing for Something
If you were to get yourself run-over by a train, then you would probably blame more than the caboose. If I were to continue my analogy, you could feel justified in going beyond the cars and engine to the track itself, and even the railroad men who laid the track. In this captivating memoir, Peter Godwin writes (and narrates the audio) about his life growing up in the former Rhodesia, Southern Africa. But, he does so in an honest way that looks as much to the world within his own skin, as to that outside his own skin.
Ultimately, it is a tale of the flip side of colonization. Since Godwin's focus is from within his own life, it may be helpful for the reader to check out a few other sources for some very basic Wikipedia level details to understand some of the events happening in the book. Godwin is not teaching or preaching. He is living the story as it unfolds. This is what makes it... well... captivating as I said before.
Here you watch a boy of any color skin grow up in the land in which he was born from his mother's womb. After all is said and done, you see his homeland taken away from his people; the street names changed to those of 'criminals and murderers' who had risen against their government. And so, history has repeated itself, there in his own land. For it was his own people who had earlier taken the land from the race of criminals and murderers who now ruled.
It's a little more complex than that, but you get the idea. Various people groups take any piece of country, and they treat the previous owners with whatever injustice they choose. That land belonged to black tribes originally, then to the Crown of England. Then the South Rhodesian party of Ian Smith rebelled against the Queen when all of Rhodesia was ordered to share rule between the black and white Africans. North Rhodesia became Zambia. Then the south was just Rhodesia under Ian's rebel government. In the eighties, different parties of guerillas fought against Smith, and eventually Robert Mugabe's party won the war. Instead of peace and brotherhood, his subsequent rule of the now called Zimbabwe brought bloodshed and human rights violations.
What is surprising is Peter Godwin's ability to look honestly at the ethnic problems from both sides of the color line. He recounts in detail how the black tribes were treated under Ian Smith. He even reveals quite candidly how he became sick the first time he attended the medical examination of the corpse of a white woman as an adult policeman. This was after a childhood of following his Medical Examiner mother around to autopsies, where he helped her shoo away the flies after the bodies were exhumed for cause of death investigations. Quite frankly, the death of people of his own race made much more of an impact on him.
You see this again during the war when his civilian sister is killed in a roadway military ambush, caught in the crossfire. His family is devastated. Yet, he has seen literal carnage everyday at work, perpetrated on black civilians by the military and police.
Throughout the book, and even in the last words, you can read the author's guiltiness for much that happened around him, and for the things he witnessed and in which he participated. This is particularly evident in a poignant statement he made about what it was like at first, after the war ended and the country was under black rule again.
You could easily replace the word conscience with the word guilt in this quote. His point is that a person's conscience is all that is to prevent him from treating badly those the government deem under his own class. With a life of no responsibility comes little guilt.
As Kenneth Vickery said in one of his 'The African Experience' Great Courses lectures on the contemporary crisis in Zimbabwe, the hallmark of settler colonies was the seizing of African land. This was occupied land that was taken back. But, it fell victim to much corruption, or a government where citizens expect bribery: 'something for something, or nothing for nothing.' This is the point behind my reference in the title of this review. The Afrikaners took the land for nothing and the Africans received nothing for all the something they lost.
This story is really worth a read for anyone who wants to know what life in Africa might be like, in any African country. It's a simple read, too. It shares much of the cultures. I read this for my stop in Zimbabwe, on my Journey Around the World for 2019-2020. My next stop is in Zambia to the north.
If you were to get yourself run-over by a train, then you would probably blame more than the caboose. If I were to continue my analogy, you could feel justified in going beyond the cars and engine to the track itself, and even the railroad men who laid the track. In this captivating memoir, Peter Godwin writes (and narrates the audio) about his life growing up in the former Rhodesia, Southern Africa. But, he does so in an honest way that looks as much to the world within his own skin, as to that outside his own skin.
Ultimately, it is a tale of the flip side of colonization. Since Godwin's focus is from within his own life, it may be helpful for the reader to check out a few other sources for some very basic Wikipedia level details to understand some of the events happening in the book. Godwin is not teaching or preaching. He is living the story as it unfolds. This is what makes it... well... captivating as I said before.
Here you watch a boy of any color skin grow up in the land in which he was born from his mother's womb. After all is said and done, you see his homeland taken away from his people; the street names changed to those of 'criminals and murderers' who had risen against their government. And so, history has repeated itself, there in his own land. For it was his own people who had earlier taken the land from the race of criminals and murderers who now ruled.
It's a little more complex than that, but you get the idea. Various people groups take any piece of country, and they treat the previous owners with whatever injustice they choose. That land belonged to black tribes originally, then to the Crown of England. Then the South Rhodesian party of Ian Smith rebelled against the Queen when all of Rhodesia was ordered to share rule between the black and white Africans. North Rhodesia became Zambia. Then the south was just Rhodesia under Ian's rebel government. In the eighties, different parties of guerillas fought against Smith, and eventually Robert Mugabe's party won the war. Instead of peace and brotherhood, his subsequent rule of the now called Zimbabwe brought bloodshed and human rights violations.
What is surprising is Peter Godwin's ability to look honestly at the ethnic problems from both sides of the color line. He recounts in detail how the black tribes were treated under Ian Smith. He even reveals quite candidly how he became sick the first time he attended the medical examination of the corpse of a white woman as an adult policeman. This was after a childhood of following his Medical Examiner mother around to autopsies, where he helped her shoo away the flies after the bodies were exhumed for cause of death investigations. Quite frankly, the death of people of his own race made much more of an impact on him.
You see this again during the war when his civilian sister is killed in a roadway military ambush, caught in the crossfire. His family is devastated. Yet, he has seen literal carnage everyday at work, perpetrated on black civilians by the military and police.
"An animal with mud on his hooves is assumed to have been to the watering hole."
Throughout the book, and even in the last words, you can read the author's guiltiness for much that happened around him, and for the things he witnessed and in which he participated. This is particularly evident in a poignant statement he made about what it was like at first, after the war ended and the country was under black rule again.
"For the first time we were enjoying the country without a conscience."
You could easily replace the word conscience with the word guilt in this quote. His point is that a person's conscience is all that is to prevent him from treating badly those the government deem under his own class. With a life of no responsibility comes little guilt.
As Kenneth Vickery said in one of his 'The African Experience' Great Courses lectures on the contemporary crisis in Zimbabwe, the hallmark of settler colonies was the seizing of African land. This was occupied land that was taken back. But, it fell victim to much corruption, or a government where citizens expect bribery: 'something for something, or nothing for nothing.' This is the point behind my reference in the title of this review. The Afrikaners took the land for nothing and the Africans received nothing for all the something they lost.
This story is really worth a read for anyone who wants to know what life in Africa might be like, in any African country. It's a simple read, too. It shares much of the cultures. I read this for my stop in Zimbabwe, on my Journey Around the World for 2019-2020. My next stop is in Zambia to the north.
February 7, 2016
I had no idea what I was reading when I picked up this book. I think I expected a coming of age story, filled with lots of memories of the author's early years in Zimbabwe. And I certainly got that. His memories of early life with his nanny and the other servants, as well as his times in school reveal a sensitive child, who struggles at times to understand the brutality of the world around him. At the same time, he has a comfort and detachment with death that comes from having a mother whose work involves, at times, digging up graves. He lived a fascinating childhood and this book is filled wit interesting, well-told stories.
What I didn't expect, was to read of his time in the war that broke out when he was in his late teens. There are hints of fighting all around the edges of his childhood, but once the narrative turns to his calling up in the military, we get an up close look at his experiences with war. This wasn't the Zimbabwe that I wanted to read about, but it was probably the Zimbabwe that I needed to read about. Some of the stories from this time period, as well as those that come after he is a journalist are hard to read. There are some brutal atrocities in here -- and as with much of war, I find the fighting to be cruel and without purpose. In many cases it is hard to know who is on what side -- at one point late in the book he meets up with a soldier who was on the other side in one of this skirmishes. Godwin prepares a speech to say how he didn't want to fight and he was young, but the other man shushes him by saying, "We were both soldiers." And that was that -- as though war is a thing that men go out to do and when it is over, they come home and tell stories of their exploits.
I'm learning this year that when you read the world, you need to be prepared to read of great joy and great suffering. This book has both in abundance.
What I didn't expect, was to read of his time in the war that broke out when he was in his late teens. There are hints of fighting all around the edges of his childhood, but once the narrative turns to his calling up in the military, we get an up close look at his experiences with war. This wasn't the Zimbabwe that I wanted to read about, but it was probably the Zimbabwe that I needed to read about. Some of the stories from this time period, as well as those that come after he is a journalist are hard to read. There are some brutal atrocities in here -- and as with much of war, I find the fighting to be cruel and without purpose. In many cases it is hard to know who is on what side -- at one point late in the book he meets up with a soldier who was on the other side in one of this skirmishes. Godwin prepares a speech to say how he didn't want to fight and he was young, but the other man shushes him by saying, "We were both soldiers." And that was that -- as though war is a thing that men go out to do and when it is over, they come home and tell stories of their exploits.
I'm learning this year that when you read the world, you need to be prepared to read of great joy and great suffering. This book has both in abundance.
January 30, 2025
"I think I first realized something was wrong when our next-door neighbour, oom Piet Oberholzer, was murdered..."
Mukiwa is my second book from the author, after his 2006 book When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa. I really enjoyed that one. Unfortunately, the writing here did not resonate with me nearly as well. More below.
Author Peter Godwin is a writer, journalist, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, and former human rights lawyer. He grew up in Rhodesia, and now lives in Manhattan.
Peter Godwin:
The backdrop to this story is an interesting one. Godwin lived in Rhodesia during its tumultuous Bush War. After decolonization, Marxist agitation stoked social unrest and civil war in many postcolonial countries on the dark continent. The colonial government in Rhodesia also faced pressure from the British to quickly succeed their government to a majority rule. While Rhodesia's Prime Minister Ian Smith was not opposed to majority rule on principle, he believed that massive structural changes to the social order should be done gradually, not suddenly, to help ensure stability. SPOILER: That's not what happened.
This Marxist agitation resulted in Communist insurgencies in many African countries. Rhodesia was particularly hard-pressed, as it had to deal with both internal Marxist campaigns, as well as cross-country attacks coming from neighbouring Mozambique. Horrific and barbaric racially-motivated murders of white farm owners by the black Rhodesians were becoming a common occurrence. Adding to their problems was wavering support from neighbouring South Africa under John Vorster and a complete withdrawal of support from Rhodesia's colonial master, Britain. Despite Ian Smith's government being under siege by Marxist insurgents, Britain refused to back her colonial possession, mainly due to the bad optics of supporting a majority white government crushing a mainly black Marxist insurgency.
For anyone interested, I would highly recommend Ian Smith's memoir: Bitter Harvest: The Great Betrayal if you are looking to understand the situation in its full nuance, with all its contextual background.
Sadly, I don't feel that Godwin told he story above properly (if at all) in here. While Ian Smith gets a brief mention a few times, the broader contextual backdrop is not drawn out, in favour of focusing on the author's life. A missed opportunity; I feel that the narrative of this one could have done a better job of tying the micro to the macro.
There are some interesting quotes peppering the writing here and there that give the reader a glimpse into the massive dysfunctionality of daily life in an African nation. I'll drop a few short ones below.
In a theme I've read about elsewhere, many Africans don't know how old they are, as they never managed to keep track of not only the day or month they were born, but also often even the year:
In this funny quote, Godwin talks about how Africans named their children:
Unfortunately, as touched on briefly above, my main gripe with this book was its overall tone. The book is pretty long and bulky; the audio version I have clocks in at over 14 hours. Now, if you're going to write a >14-hour book, it better be decently readable. Sadly, I feel like the author failed at this. I am very particular about how engaging I find the prose in my books, and this one didn't pass muster towards that end.
********************
Given how much I enjoyed his other book, I was expecting more from Mukiwa. Unfortunately, the book was just too long. I feel like a decent chunk of the writing here could (and even should) have been cut out with no overall loss to the finished product.
2.5 stars.
Mukiwa is my second book from the author, after his 2006 book When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa. I really enjoyed that one. Unfortunately, the writing here did not resonate with me nearly as well. More below.
Author Peter Godwin is a writer, journalist, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, and former human rights lawyer. He grew up in Rhodesia, and now lives in Manhattan.
Peter Godwin:
The backdrop to this story is an interesting one. Godwin lived in Rhodesia during its tumultuous Bush War. After decolonization, Marxist agitation stoked social unrest and civil war in many postcolonial countries on the dark continent. The colonial government in Rhodesia also faced pressure from the British to quickly succeed their government to a majority rule. While Rhodesia's Prime Minister Ian Smith was not opposed to majority rule on principle, he believed that massive structural changes to the social order should be done gradually, not suddenly, to help ensure stability. SPOILER: That's not what happened.
This Marxist agitation resulted in Communist insurgencies in many African countries. Rhodesia was particularly hard-pressed, as it had to deal with both internal Marxist campaigns, as well as cross-country attacks coming from neighbouring Mozambique. Horrific and barbaric racially-motivated murders of white farm owners by the black Rhodesians were becoming a common occurrence. Adding to their problems was wavering support from neighbouring South Africa under John Vorster and a complete withdrawal of support from Rhodesia's colonial master, Britain. Despite Ian Smith's government being under siege by Marxist insurgents, Britain refused to back her colonial possession, mainly due to the bad optics of supporting a majority white government crushing a mainly black Marxist insurgency.
For anyone interested, I would highly recommend Ian Smith's memoir: Bitter Harvest: The Great Betrayal if you are looking to understand the situation in its full nuance, with all its contextual background.
Sadly, I don't feel that Godwin told he story above properly (if at all) in here. While Ian Smith gets a brief mention a few times, the broader contextual backdrop is not drawn out, in favour of focusing on the author's life. A missed opportunity; I feel that the narrative of this one could have done a better job of tying the micro to the macro.
There are some interesting quotes peppering the writing here and there that give the reader a glimpse into the massive dysfunctionality of daily life in an African nation. I'll drop a few short ones below.
In a theme I've read about elsewhere, many Africans don't know how old they are, as they never managed to keep track of not only the day or month they were born, but also often even the year:
"...On my last visit to court, there was a big argument about the age of one of the Crocodile Gang members. My mother explained to me that if he was under eighteen then they couldn’t hang him, but if he was over eighteen, they could. Like most Africans he didn’t know his exact age, and he didn’t have a birth certificate..."
In this funny quote, Godwin talks about how Africans named their children:
"Older Africans, whose parents couldn’t speak English, tended to have an arbitrary English word as a name. They believed that having a name in the white man’s language would attract the white man’s power. So they were called by any English word their parents had chanced across: words like Tickie, or Sixpence, Cigarette or Matches were commonly used as names. The next generation of Africans, who were the target of Christian missionaries, tended to have Old Testament names; Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Isaiah and Zephaniah. Baby girls were often called after the emotion felt by the mother at birth – Joy, Happiness, Delight. But, as far as I know, there were no girls called Disappointment, Pain or Exhaustion. Finally Africans began taking ordinary names popular with European settlers. Usually they would retain an African name as well, which only they knew, but after the civil war, the new chimurenga, it became fashionable to revert to their African names..."
Unfortunately, as touched on briefly above, my main gripe with this book was its overall tone. The book is pretty long and bulky; the audio version I have clocks in at over 14 hours. Now, if you're going to write a >14-hour book, it better be decently readable. Sadly, I feel like the author failed at this. I am very particular about how engaging I find the prose in my books, and this one didn't pass muster towards that end.
********************
Given how much I enjoyed his other book, I was expecting more from Mukiwa. Unfortunately, the book was just too long. I feel like a decent chunk of the writing here could (and even should) have been cut out with no overall loss to the finished product.
2.5 stars.
September 12, 2014
This book was written in three parts:
1. A description of his African childhood.
I don't think it was the author's intention, but I felt very sorry for this lonely little boy. I had to remind myself that this was a different time, and that children were raised with much less fuss.
2. His time fighting in the Rhodesion war.
Imagine figting a war that you don't believe in. Putting your life on the line for a war you know can't be won.
3. His time as a lawyer and investigative reporter in Zimbabwe.
This is the part of the book that really got to me. I thought his actions here, so much braver than figting a war only because you were told to. This is probably because he now believed in what he was doing. It must be amazing knowing that you made a difference in people's lifes.
Overall, I thought it very sad that this story reminds me so much of my own country - South Africa.
1. A description of his African childhood.
I don't think it was the author's intention, but I felt very sorry for this lonely little boy. I had to remind myself that this was a different time, and that children were raised with much less fuss.
2. His time fighting in the Rhodesion war.
Imagine figting a war that you don't believe in. Putting your life on the line for a war you know can't be won.
3. His time as a lawyer and investigative reporter in Zimbabwe.
This is the part of the book that really got to me. I thought his actions here, so much braver than figting a war only because you were told to. This is probably because he now believed in what he was doing. It must be amazing knowing that you made a difference in people's lifes.
Overall, I thought it very sad that this story reminds me so much of my own country - South Africa.
July 5, 2018
This is book 1 of 4 that were loaned to me by a good couple near where I reside. As a continuous student of history I came into this book with no knowledge of the former nation of Rhodesia – and came away with an understanding and appreciation of the nation of Zimbabwe. The road one travels within this memoir is reflective, educational, spiritual, and factual to the point of existence for this author, his childhood, family, teen years and young adult life. This book deserves a written review that is both honorable to its core and principled to the value to which the author knowingly provided information to multitudes of people across the globe. There are many like me who have no compass bearing of historical significance to this location on our earth. I have come away with the most elementary knowledge of words and phrases in the Shona tongue among other languages indigenous to the area. Just when I thought the book would lull into some pace of normalcy it picks up almost immediately and one heads down a path of exceptional experience. Most of the reading felt like riding a Land Rover through parts of sub-Saharan Africa in much the same way one rides through the desert in Lower Egypt. This book is that sort of book, if you are looking for adventure and truth then your committed challenge is to read this book. This review is an honest attempt to avoid the particulars within this work.
Peter Godwin is born to parents in Rhodesia who are from the UK. His mother is a Doctor and his father is an Engineer of everything (to put it mildly.) Mr. Godwin is born in 1957 and it is on 11 November 1965 where the adult reflects upon life later whereby he discovered that everything changed on that date for Rhodesia. As a boy for the time being life would continue and his Doctor Mum would take him on what could be viewed as Medical Expeditions or rather an early version of Doctors Without Borders to vast local regions to help prevent diseases curable at that time frame for masses of people; however these same people have little to no access. He would assist his mother in providing sugar cubed measles prevention medicine to children and ensure that each had swallowed their medicine by asking each child to open his/her mouth and stick out their tongues. This brought an honest smile to my face as I crossed these pages as in my own mind it was the good heart of a child helping children to stay healthy. It was also a point for endearment to the author as he became older. On one later escapade during the after effects of the Civil War this act of kindness would also save his life and keep him from prison by a War Lord. A truly wonderful discovery for me in this book was the fact that Mr. Godwin informs the reader that he was 14 years of age and still had not watched any form of television. He kills a Cape Eagle Owl and you will have to read as to what occurs following that event. Mukiwa is described; however, I will not allude to the author’s delivery of meaning – I will say I was quite taken and fully appreciate in terms the meaning. It made me chuckle a bit.
The change that does come to former Rhodesia by way of Civil War is filled with all the political intrigues and border issues that occur to any nation that has been impacted by war. I couldn’t help but think of the American Southwest in current day frame of mind, open borders and the illegitimate loss of order would reign down this sort of activity that one reads as described by Mr. Godwin. One begins to see the devastation both locally and personal to Mr. Godwin and his family. His “way out” becomes an acceptance to Cambridge University and though he never returns to Rhodesia, he does return to his beloved Zimbabwe. Beloved in that Mr. Godwin loves his country but does not love what is happening to some of its most innocent victims both white and black alike. It is in choices along the way the Mr. Godwin never takes the path of least resistance, he continually makes the best choices based on his love of family and country; there are times he questions the intent of the political framework both previous to and after the Civil War. The mess apparently continues forward with his next book When A Crocodile Eats the Sun. This book is a wonderful journey – you will come away more knowledgeable than before if you (like me) have little historical reference to Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and the sub-Saharan continent in general.
Peter Godwin is born to parents in Rhodesia who are from the UK. His mother is a Doctor and his father is an Engineer of everything (to put it mildly.) Mr. Godwin is born in 1957 and it is on 11 November 1965 where the adult reflects upon life later whereby he discovered that everything changed on that date for Rhodesia. As a boy for the time being life would continue and his Doctor Mum would take him on what could be viewed as Medical Expeditions or rather an early version of Doctors Without Borders to vast local regions to help prevent diseases curable at that time frame for masses of people; however these same people have little to no access. He would assist his mother in providing sugar cubed measles prevention medicine to children and ensure that each had swallowed their medicine by asking each child to open his/her mouth and stick out their tongues. This brought an honest smile to my face as I crossed these pages as in my own mind it was the good heart of a child helping children to stay healthy. It was also a point for endearment to the author as he became older. On one later escapade during the after effects of the Civil War this act of kindness would also save his life and keep him from prison by a War Lord. A truly wonderful discovery for me in this book was the fact that Mr. Godwin informs the reader that he was 14 years of age and still had not watched any form of television. He kills a Cape Eagle Owl and you will have to read as to what occurs following that event. Mukiwa is described; however, I will not allude to the author’s delivery of meaning – I will say I was quite taken and fully appreciate in terms the meaning. It made me chuckle a bit.
The change that does come to former Rhodesia by way of Civil War is filled with all the political intrigues and border issues that occur to any nation that has been impacted by war. I couldn’t help but think of the American Southwest in current day frame of mind, open borders and the illegitimate loss of order would reign down this sort of activity that one reads as described by Mr. Godwin. One begins to see the devastation both locally and personal to Mr. Godwin and his family. His “way out” becomes an acceptance to Cambridge University and though he never returns to Rhodesia, he does return to his beloved Zimbabwe. Beloved in that Mr. Godwin loves his country but does not love what is happening to some of its most innocent victims both white and black alike. It is in choices along the way the Mr. Godwin never takes the path of least resistance, he continually makes the best choices based on his love of family and country; there are times he questions the intent of the political framework both previous to and after the Civil War. The mess apparently continues forward with his next book When A Crocodile Eats the Sun. This book is a wonderful journey – you will come away more knowledgeable than before if you (like me) have little historical reference to Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and the sub-Saharan continent in general.
December 31, 2011
A “mukiwa” is a fig that is the same color as white people. Peter Godwin wrote a memoir about being a mukiwa in the changing African country of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. In a quick read, Godwin writes about (1) his pleasant childhood growing up in the African wilderness, (2) being a disillusioned police officer during the Rhodesian Bush War, and (3) investigating, as a lawyer and journalist, Zimbabwe war crimes. I don’t mean to be jaded, but at times African war destruction tales can get rather uniform when capturing the rape, torture, child soldiers, destitute conditions [see: What is the What (Sudan); A Long Way Gone (Sierra Leone); We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (Rwanda)]….BUT I enjoyed this book because the focal point was unique, which was the effect such political turmoil had on the life of a whitey in a country that was fed up with white colonials.
[BRIEF HISTORY LESSON for context…] The memoir was during the time colonial Rhodesia became independent Zimbabwe in the Rhodesian Bush War, a conflict that included 3 different players: the Rhodesian government under white Ian Smith, the rebel Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army under Robert Mugabe (ZANU), and the rebel Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army under Joshua Nkomo (ZAPU). As colonial rule was ending all over Africa, the white Rhodesian gov issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the UK (stating they refused to become a multi-racial democracy and white rule would continue to govern). Economic sanctions by the UN & the war ensued. After 15 years of fighting amongst the 3 players, Rhodesia became Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe became leader.
Godwin led an idyllic childhood before the announcement of the UDI by Ian Smith. It was simple and pleasant reading about his fabricated perspective of himself as a child. I particularly liked when he “lectured importantly” to Portuguese soldiers about the dangers of African wildlife; decided Africans died of rare diseases like leprosy or from magic spells, while white settlers rarely/never died; and discussed talking to his dying great aunt, but being uninterested because he “had just seen snow for the first time and wasn’t in much of a mood for old people with bony hands and parchment skin.”
As a trained police officer for the Rhodesian government during the war, it was interesting to see that police corruption is ever present. When Godwin was being trained, department made it known that legally, an officer had to shout “stop” three times before shooting a fleeing perp. Accordingly, officers were taught how to speed shout, “I’mpliceoffcer. Stostostop!” so that one could shoot legally in less than two seconds. Also interesting how irrelevant this slight infraction became when police began following suit of guerrilla forces and destroying/abusing/exploiting citizens. Aside from a gradual slippery slope of soldiers beginning to abuse citizens in war (just like guerrillas), this might also be blamed on the justification by Rhodesian soldiers that civilians were more scared of guerrillas than of the government, and would obey the unit that frightens them into submission.
Once Zimbabwe was born, Godwin returned from his education in Europe to document destruction. I wished there was more detail on his travails being a lawyer in an effective dictatorship. This was the shortest part of the memoir, and we disappointingly only saw a couple pages dedicated to his firm’s representation of 7 commanders accused of plotting a coup against the government. After 28 days of trial, all were found innocent of treason, but were nonetheless returned to indefinite custody under “Emergency Regulations” that allow a gov to detain people the gov maintains may be threatening. Law in dictatorships is not legal.
Initially, the title (“a white boy in Africa) annoyed me…then I realized it was apropos (as titles usually are after reading), and the annoyance may have just been that I felt even whiter than normal reading this on a train in the Pilsen neighborhood. I’ll be really interested to read When A Crocodile Eats the Sun, which is the sequel to this book - it covers Godwin’s post-war life during the reign of Robert Mugabe, who liberated his country from white oppression and then began to ethnically cleanse the country. That will be good.
[BRIEF HISTORY LESSON for context…] The memoir was during the time colonial Rhodesia became independent Zimbabwe in the Rhodesian Bush War, a conflict that included 3 different players: the Rhodesian government under white Ian Smith, the rebel Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army under Robert Mugabe (ZANU), and the rebel Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army under Joshua Nkomo (ZAPU). As colonial rule was ending all over Africa, the white Rhodesian gov issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the UK (stating they refused to become a multi-racial democracy and white rule would continue to govern). Economic sanctions by the UN & the war ensued. After 15 years of fighting amongst the 3 players, Rhodesia became Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe became leader.
Godwin led an idyllic childhood before the announcement of the UDI by Ian Smith. It was simple and pleasant reading about his fabricated perspective of himself as a child. I particularly liked when he “lectured importantly” to Portuguese soldiers about the dangers of African wildlife; decided Africans died of rare diseases like leprosy or from magic spells, while white settlers rarely/never died; and discussed talking to his dying great aunt, but being uninterested because he “had just seen snow for the first time and wasn’t in much of a mood for old people with bony hands and parchment skin.”
As a trained police officer for the Rhodesian government during the war, it was interesting to see that police corruption is ever present. When Godwin was being trained, department made it known that legally, an officer had to shout “stop” three times before shooting a fleeing perp. Accordingly, officers were taught how to speed shout, “I’mpliceoffcer. Stostostop!” so that one could shoot legally in less than two seconds. Also interesting how irrelevant this slight infraction became when police began following suit of guerrilla forces and destroying/abusing/exploiting citizens. Aside from a gradual slippery slope of soldiers beginning to abuse citizens in war (just like guerrillas), this might also be blamed on the justification by Rhodesian soldiers that civilians were more scared of guerrillas than of the government, and would obey the unit that frightens them into submission.
Once Zimbabwe was born, Godwin returned from his education in Europe to document destruction. I wished there was more detail on his travails being a lawyer in an effective dictatorship. This was the shortest part of the memoir, and we disappointingly only saw a couple pages dedicated to his firm’s representation of 7 commanders accused of plotting a coup against the government. After 28 days of trial, all were found innocent of treason, but were nonetheless returned to indefinite custody under “Emergency Regulations” that allow a gov to detain people the gov maintains may be threatening. Law in dictatorships is not legal.
Initially, the title (“a white boy in Africa) annoyed me…then I realized it was apropos (as titles usually are after reading), and the annoyance may have just been that I felt even whiter than normal reading this on a train in the Pilsen neighborhood. I’ll be really interested to read When A Crocodile Eats the Sun, which is the sequel to this book - it covers Godwin’s post-war life during the reign of Robert Mugabe, who liberated his country from white oppression and then began to ethnically cleanse the country. That will be good.
October 17, 2021
**4 stars**
A really well told personal account of the Rhodesian Bush War!
This is the second biography I have read on the Rhodesian Bush War, and the emergence of the country of Zimbabwe (I have already started with a third). A few weeks ago I remembered a line from Leonardo Di Caprio's character from the film Blood Diamond about growing up in Rhodesia.
Danny Archer from Blood Diamond:
I realised I knew almost nothing about Rhodesia, or that it became Zimbabwe after the war. I began to read about the war and I began with Rainbow's End: A Memoir of Childhood, War and an African Farm which is the story of Lauren St. John growing up in Rhodesia on a farm with her family supporting Ian Smith's policies. It is interesting to read as you can see how the author's view on the war changes after independence was declared. Initially she believed that the they were fighting the communist before coming to realise that it was actually a war of oppression. Again this made me think back to Blood Diamond.
Danny Archer from Blood Diamond
Peter Godwin's account was different to that of Lauren St. John. Unlike Lauren, Peter was first generation Rhodesian (Lauren was fourth generation) and mainly grew up in the cities and suburbs (Lauren grew up on vast farms). Unlike Lauren's family, Peter's family did not support Ian Smith and his ideas and believed in black majority rule. Another big difference for me is the attitudes toward the war. Lauren's family believed in the war and her father was a volunteer solider. Peter's family did not believe in the war, but Peter was conscripted and detested his time in the armed forces.
I very much enjoyed reading about Peter's account and how his views and values changed. From being a young boy who went to church with his black nanny every week, to a boy in an all white boys school, to his time being conscripted into the army and leading black soldiers, to his time defending "terrorists", to his time being declared an "enemy of the state"... Peter is honest with his observations about life in Rhodesia/ Zimbabwe, how things changed for both the better and worse and the sheer horror of war.
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Both of the books are fantastic reads and I recommend them highly. I am loving learning about this topic and will continue to read different accounts of the war.
A really well told personal account of the Rhodesian Bush War!
This is the second biography I have read on the Rhodesian Bush War, and the emergence of the country of Zimbabwe (I have already started with a third). A few weeks ago I remembered a line from Leonardo Di Caprio's character from the film Blood Diamond about growing up in Rhodesia.
Danny Archer from Blood Diamond:
...That's a - That's a polite way of putting it, ja. Mum was raped and shot and um... Dad was decapitated and hung from a hook in the barn. I was nine...
I realised I knew almost nothing about Rhodesia, or that it became Zimbabwe after the war. I began to read about the war and I began with Rainbow's End: A Memoir of Childhood, War and an African Farm which is the story of Lauren St. John growing up in Rhodesia on a farm with her family supporting Ian Smith's policies. It is interesting to read as you can see how the author's view on the war changes after independence was declared. Initially she believed that the they were fighting the communist before coming to realise that it was actually a war of oppression. Again this made me think back to Blood Diamond.
Danny Archer from Blood Diamond
We thought we were fighting communism, but in the end it was all about who gets what...
Peter Godwin's account was different to that of Lauren St. John. Unlike Lauren, Peter was first generation Rhodesian (Lauren was fourth generation) and mainly grew up in the cities and suburbs (Lauren grew up on vast farms). Unlike Lauren's family, Peter's family did not support Ian Smith and his ideas and believed in black majority rule. Another big difference for me is the attitudes toward the war. Lauren's family believed in the war and her father was a volunteer solider. Peter's family did not believe in the war, but Peter was conscripted and detested his time in the armed forces.
I very much enjoyed reading about Peter's account and how his views and values changed. From being a young boy who went to church with his black nanny every week, to a boy in an all white boys school, to his time being conscripted into the army and leading black soldiers, to his time defending "terrorists", to his time being declared an "enemy of the state"... Peter is honest with his observations about life in Rhodesia/ Zimbabwe, how things changed for both the better and worse and the sheer horror of war.
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Both of the books are fantastic reads and I recommend them highly. I am loving learning about this topic and will continue to read different accounts of the war.
October 26, 2010
A very interesting read. I don't know how atypical Peter Godwin is; the son of liberal/progressive parents in rural Rhodesia, he grew up accompanying his doctor mother to road accidents and post-mortems, and his black nanny to Apostolic church meetings where he was the only white. The first part of the book, covering his childhood until he leaves school, is both touching and funny.
Part 2 is an abrupt change of scene, covering the 18 months or so he spent after school as a young conscript in the Rhodesian army after Ian Smith's declaration of independence and the black rebellion against it. As you'd expect this is harsh, and brings home yet again the futility of war, perhaps especially civil war, and that although you may start out with "principles", war will eventually corrupt you and you will be committing -- or at least complicit in -- the same injustices and atrocities you once railed against.
Godwin eventually escapes, amazingly unscathed, to Cambridge where he trains as a lawyer. Part 3 covers his return to Zimbabwe, where he is involved in the defence at a treason trial which sadly reveals that the new government is not above using the same tricks as the old one: the defendants, acquitted, are promptly locked up again under emergency powers inherited from Smith. Disgusted with the law, Godwin becomes an investigative journalist, risking life and limb to uncover government-sanctioned mass slaughter.
It's a bit gung-ho at times, with some episodes that read like a thriller, making you wonder if it could really have happened like that. But overall, it reads as a sincere and rather embittered insider's look at the mess that is Zimbabwe, still suffering from the same ills almost 40 years on. Well worth reading.
Part 2 is an abrupt change of scene, covering the 18 months or so he spent after school as a young conscript in the Rhodesian army after Ian Smith's declaration of independence and the black rebellion against it. As you'd expect this is harsh, and brings home yet again the futility of war, perhaps especially civil war, and that although you may start out with "principles", war will eventually corrupt you and you will be committing -- or at least complicit in -- the same injustices and atrocities you once railed against.
Godwin eventually escapes, amazingly unscathed, to Cambridge where he trains as a lawyer. Part 3 covers his return to Zimbabwe, where he is involved in the defence at a treason trial which sadly reveals that the new government is not above using the same tricks as the old one: the defendants, acquitted, are promptly locked up again under emergency powers inherited from Smith. Disgusted with the law, Godwin becomes an investigative journalist, risking life and limb to uncover government-sanctioned mass slaughter.
It's a bit gung-ho at times, with some episodes that read like a thriller, making you wonder if it could really have happened like that. But overall, it reads as a sincere and rather embittered insider's look at the mess that is Zimbabwe, still suffering from the same ills almost 40 years on. Well worth reading.
March 26, 2010
A very well-written and engaging memoir which is part the experience of a white boy in Africa and part a coming of age story. Godwin was born in Rhodesia to a father who was a factory manager and a mother who was a doctor. Both were idiosyncratic characters who embodied the British ideal of the stiff upper lip. As a child, Godwin frequently accompanied his mother on her medical rounds which included some revolting autopsies done in the field. He was sent to boarding school at the age of 6 which was an experience that caused him loneliness and suffering until he finally achieved the independence of being his own person and getting on with the other students. His older sister Jain also attended convent schools. Throughout his childhood, Godwin both accepted the prevailing white supremacy of Rhodesia while paradoxically he consorted with the blacks--going to apostolic services with his nurse without his parents knowledge and so forth.The atmosphere of Rhodesia and its topography are depicted very well. As turmoil arose, with black revolutionaries determined to take control of Rhodesia, Godwin was drafted into the security forces where again he was confronted with indoctrinated beliefs and his emerging consciousness that the separatist government in Rhodesia was scorned by the world. However, he fulfilled his duties and could see the problems with the separatists who thought nothing of terrible reprisals against other blacks who cooperated with the whites, or particularly white farmers. It was never a simple situation and still isn't.
March 23, 2018
What a fantastic memoir! Peter Godwin grew up in Rhodesia as the country was beginning to shake off colonial rule. His father a factory manager, and his mother a doctor, young Peter often rode along with his mother when she was called to attend to deaths - many the result of violence. This, among other dangers of Africa, left a huge impression on Godwin, causing fears no child should suffer. Like most white African children, he was sent to boarding school at a young age, and then as a young man, required to serve in the army. He shared his war stories first, as a reluctant soldier, and then later as a journalist returning to the newly formed Zimbabwe. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Africa or history.
September 26, 2010
I read this book mostly one night sitting by a fire in Plettenburg Bay, South Africa - waiting for a cab at 1:30 am.
I read Godwin's second book first, and I really liked it. This book was about his childhood and I thought it was really great too.
It was a bit strange, because it seemed like a real life Power of One, without the fantastical ledgend aspect. Many of the same situations happened to Godwin.
Plus, learning about the Rhodesian war and then the subsequent civil war from the point of view of a reluctant soldier was very interesting. It gave a lot of really good background to his subsequent book.
I recommend it!
I read Godwin's second book first, and I really liked it. This book was about his childhood and I thought it was really great too.
It was a bit strange, because it seemed like a real life Power of One, without the fantastical ledgend aspect. Many of the same situations happened to Godwin.
Plus, learning about the Rhodesian war and then the subsequent civil war from the point of view of a reluctant soldier was very interesting. It gave a lot of really good background to his subsequent book.
I recommend it!
January 11, 2015
A really great personal story. The book tells Godwin's - the white boy - story, from the start of war in Rhodesia to his experience fighting in the civil war and tells of his adventures as a journalist as Rhodesia becomes Zimbabwe. Besides the personal story of a boy growing up and returning to his homeland as an adult the book is about the struggle between blacks and whites in the aftermath of British Colonial rule.
July 11, 2018
This exceptional memoir relies on the voice of its Zimbabwean narrator, who is seven when the book begins. It's his boyish take on the world around him - a world of murder, autopsies, danger and alienation - conveyed with the detachment of a child, which is so effective. As the boy becomes older and goes away to school, the voice changes with him. I've never read a book like this. Now I need to read the next book to find out what happened to him.
September 9, 2017
About growing up in Zimbabwe by Peter Godwin who grew up there the same time as Kit (my husband) but stayed there and fought in the war. Brilliantly written, prize winning. Would recommend to anyone. How do people remember so much detail about their childhood?
March 5, 2023
Very interesting book. It's a really good look at Rhodesia and the Rhodesian bush war. However, the author still seems an outsider to everything that's happening. Too British to be Rhodesian, the author seems to float between everything without truly being a part of anything.
December 28, 2015
Barely readable, this was a meandering story by a voice who should have stayed quiet and allowed more interesting and insightful people to speak instead.
June 1, 2020
I really like Peter Godwin's writing and his background of growing up white in Zimbabwe is really interesting.
April 4, 2022
History can be dull without the personal touch, especially if one wants more than just a bare chronicle of events and dates, and it is books like this one that help to put flesh on the bare bones of history -- a memoir showing how one person and one family were affected by the events.
Peter Godwin was born in what was then known as Southern Rhodesia of British immigrant parents, The country was part of the Central African Federation, which broke up when Zambia and Malawi became independent in the mid-1960s, and Southern Rhodesia just became Rhodesia. Godwin's father managed a factory in the eastern part of the country, near Melsetter in the Chimanimani mountains. His mother was a medical doctor and as a child he often accompanied her on her rounds, helping her to vaccinate other children and sometimes assisting with postmortem examinations. This probably gave him a wider experience of life (and death) than most young children.
At the time Rhodesia was a British colony with self-government by a white-dominated parliament, and there were conflicting views of independence. Most whites wanted continued white rule after independence, and most blacks wanted majority rule. These conflicting aims led to a civil war, which becomes the theme running through the book, and dominated Peter Godwin's life. While he was still in primary school the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, made a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI), thus rebelling against Britain, whose government's policy was "no independence before majority rule) (NIBMAR). As a result, the civil war hotted up, with two African liberation movements, ZANU and ZAPU, fighting against the Smith government.
Peter Godwin's parents moved to the other side of the country, and he spent his high school years in Salisbury, the capital. After leaving school he had to spend a year in compulsory national service, and he opted to do it in the police force rather than in the army. But because of the civil war, the police became very militarised, and Godwin found himself caught up in the fighting. Even as a relatively new recruit, he often found himself in a moral dilemma. He witnessed atrocities committed on all sides, and their effects on the victimsand wasn't really committed to fight for continued white rule.
After completing his national service he went to Cambridge in the UK to study law, but after only a year returned for his sister's funeral. She had been killed in an ambush by the Rhodesian Army, and since he had returned, the government wanted him to do more national service, but eventually allowed him to return to Cambridge to complete his degree.
When he returned after completing his studies, Rhodesia had become Zimbabwe, but the civil war continued between ZANU and ZAPU after their shaky alliance in the struggle for independence disintegrated. Now practising as a lawyer, Godwin found himself defending ZAPU members who were accused of treason by the ruling ZANU party,. After the one high-profile case, Godwin became disillusioned with the law, and became a freelance journalist, and covered more of the battles between ZANU and ZAPU, though it was mainly a matter of the Zimbabwe army against civilians in the south-west of the country, Matabeleland, who were suspected by the government of supporting ZAPU.
In all this, Peter Godwin was a witness to a lot of the the fighting, and how it affected ordinary people and families, And so he describes how that turbulent and violent period in the history of his country affected ordinary people and disrupted their lives, both of his own family, and other people he came into contact with, at school, as a policeman, as a lawyer, and later as a journalist. That is the strength of the book. It adds the human touch, and shows the human cost of war and conflict.
A weakness, especially for readers who are not familiar with the wider history of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, is that it does not have enough of the historical background. I have probably given more of the historical background in this review than appears in the whole book. He mentions background events in passing, as if everybody knows that they were.
Another weakness, it appears to me, is that Godwin does not give enough of his personal history. Yes, he describes his childhood in great detail, and gives a great deal of detail about the events in Zimbabwe that he was involved in, but when he left to study overseas, we only learn after his return that he studied law. Though the book concentrates on the time he spent in the country, at least a page or two could have said something about his studies overseas, He was writing a book, not a play with the scene set in Zimbabwe, so that when the actors were offstage the audience could not see them at all until they reappeared. A book need not be confined to the main setting all the time.
But the book is well-written and very readable, and well worth reading for anyone who wants to know what life in war and conflict situations is like behind the scenes and behind the smokescreen of propaganda.
Peter Godwin was born in what was then known as Southern Rhodesia of British immigrant parents, The country was part of the Central African Federation, which broke up when Zambia and Malawi became independent in the mid-1960s, and Southern Rhodesia just became Rhodesia. Godwin's father managed a factory in the eastern part of the country, near Melsetter in the Chimanimani mountains. His mother was a medical doctor and as a child he often accompanied her on her rounds, helping her to vaccinate other children and sometimes assisting with postmortem examinations. This probably gave him a wider experience of life (and death) than most young children.
At the time Rhodesia was a British colony with self-government by a white-dominated parliament, and there were conflicting views of independence. Most whites wanted continued white rule after independence, and most blacks wanted majority rule. These conflicting aims led to a civil war, which becomes the theme running through the book, and dominated Peter Godwin's life. While he was still in primary school the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, made a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI), thus rebelling against Britain, whose government's policy was "no independence before majority rule) (NIBMAR). As a result, the civil war hotted up, with two African liberation movements, ZANU and ZAPU, fighting against the Smith government.
Peter Godwin's parents moved to the other side of the country, and he spent his high school years in Salisbury, the capital. After leaving school he had to spend a year in compulsory national service, and he opted to do it in the police force rather than in the army. But because of the civil war, the police became very militarised, and Godwin found himself caught up in the fighting. Even as a relatively new recruit, he often found himself in a moral dilemma. He witnessed atrocities committed on all sides, and their effects on the victimsand wasn't really committed to fight for continued white rule.
After completing his national service he went to Cambridge in the UK to study law, but after only a year returned for his sister's funeral. She had been killed in an ambush by the Rhodesian Army, and since he had returned, the government wanted him to do more national service, but eventually allowed him to return to Cambridge to complete his degree.
When he returned after completing his studies, Rhodesia had become Zimbabwe, but the civil war continued between ZANU and ZAPU after their shaky alliance in the struggle for independence disintegrated. Now practising as a lawyer, Godwin found himself defending ZAPU members who were accused of treason by the ruling ZANU party,. After the one high-profile case, Godwin became disillusioned with the law, and became a freelance journalist, and covered more of the battles between ZANU and ZAPU, though it was mainly a matter of the Zimbabwe army against civilians in the south-west of the country, Matabeleland, who were suspected by the government of supporting ZAPU.
In all this, Peter Godwin was a witness to a lot of the the fighting, and how it affected ordinary people and families, And so he describes how that turbulent and violent period in the history of his country affected ordinary people and disrupted their lives, both of his own family, and other people he came into contact with, at school, as a policeman, as a lawyer, and later as a journalist. That is the strength of the book. It adds the human touch, and shows the human cost of war and conflict.
A weakness, especially for readers who are not familiar with the wider history of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, is that it does not have enough of the historical background. I have probably given more of the historical background in this review than appears in the whole book. He mentions background events in passing, as if everybody knows that they were.
Another weakness, it appears to me, is that Godwin does not give enough of his personal history. Yes, he describes his childhood in great detail, and gives a great deal of detail about the events in Zimbabwe that he was involved in, but when he left to study overseas, we only learn after his return that he studied law. Though the book concentrates on the time he spent in the country, at least a page or two could have said something about his studies overseas, He was writing a book, not a play with the scene set in Zimbabwe, so that when the actors were offstage the audience could not see them at all until they reappeared. A book need not be confined to the main setting all the time.
But the book is well-written and very readable, and well worth reading for anyone who wants to know what life in war and conflict situations is like behind the scenes and behind the smokescreen of propaganda.
November 3, 2019
De ervaringen van Peter Goldwin uit zijn kindertijd zijn zacht, speels verteld. Hij vertelt het verhaal vanuit het standpunt van een kind, onschuldig en zonder oordeel te vellen. Je voelt de sluimerende conflicten tussen zwart en wit, tussen de Engelse kolonialisten en de bevolking. Tot de burgeroorlog uitbreekt, Peter het leger ingaat en jeugd uit hem wegtrekt door mensonterende toestanden. Een goed beeld op het land en zijn moeilijke strijd voor onafhankelijkheid.
November 4, 2025
This probably will be my favorite biography of the year.
Having recently visited Zimbabwe, I was deeply moved by the country's beauty and the wonderful spirit of its people. While I approached a memoir about life and war written from a white perspective with some skepticism, Peter Godwin delivered a balanced and nuanced storytelling. It highlights how war has impacted every community—all tribes and all skin colors—throughout Zimbabwe's history.
I sincerely hope to see the nation unite and form a brighter future. I can't wait to go back.
Having recently visited Zimbabwe, I was deeply moved by the country's beauty and the wonderful spirit of its people. While I approached a memoir about life and war written from a white perspective with some skepticism, Peter Godwin delivered a balanced and nuanced storytelling. It highlights how war has impacted every community—all tribes and all skin colors—throughout Zimbabwe's history.
I sincerely hope to see the nation unite and form a brighter future. I can't wait to go back.
October 16, 2025
a really excellent memoir. very well written and compelling and relatable as a lekhooa living in Africa. white people have fucked this entire continent up so fucking badly and so much of it is still fucked decades after this book was published
it's also shocking to me that Godwin's role in reporting on the matabeleland atrocities has gone unremarked upon in history
it's also shocking to me that Godwin's role in reporting on the matabeleland atrocities has gone unremarked upon in history
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