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Summary: Great read! Sets context for Zimbabwe's current problems!
Review: This book is a great read whether or not you have any particular interest in Zimbabwe. The author's story is inherently interesting and well told. If you are interested in Zimbabwe, however, this book is priceless. It is the best of several books I have read about Zimbabwe. My wife, whose interest in Zimbabwe is much less strong than my own, also read this book and was equally enthralled with it.
Rating:
Summary: Great read! Sets context for Zimbabwe's current problems!
Review: This book is a great read whether or not you have any particular interest in Zimbabwe. The author's story is inherently interesting and well told. If you are interested in Zimbabwe, however, this book is priceless. It is the best of several books I have read about Zimbabwe. My wife, whose interest in Zimbabwe is much less strong than my own, also read this book and was equally enthralled with it.
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Summary: Great Book!
Review: This is one of the best books I've read in a long time.
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Summary: A true classic - essential reading
Review: This outstanding book will conjure up vivid memories of both people and places for anyone who has ever been to Zimbabwe. As with any great piece of writing (and there is no doubt that this is one) it also peeled back the surface of the country and showed things that were not readily visible, even though they were only just beneath the skin. One of the books many strengths is that it works on so many levels; as a story of Africa, of childhood, of colonialism and the end of Empire, as a war memoir and a study of inhumanity. The threads of each aspect wind around each other to produce a story as colourful, complex and mysterious as Africa itself. The tales of Peter Godwin's childhood are by turns funny, poignant and suffused with the warmth of Africa and its people. By contrast, the description of the "war years" matches the very best writings on Viet Nam (David Donovan's execllent "Once a Warrior King" is an interesting counter-point from that war)and, without sensationalism or dramatisation, fully conveys the banality and brutality of "bush fire wars". The final, post-war, section is deeply moving and provides a gruelling illustration of ethnic conflict. Although this is an important book with a powerful message, the author tells his story with a lightness of touch that never allows language to obstruct the narrative. I have not had the slighest hesitation in recommending "Mukiwa" to anyone, whether or not they are interested in Africa. There is much here to satisfy any reader but this outstanding book should be required reading for anyone who has ever been to Zimbabwe or ever plans to go there.
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Summary: Read Carefully
Review: This review is basically to counter the one negative review on this page. Nowhere in this book did I get a sense that Godwin was trying to rationalize or "candy-coat" life in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. I saw Godwin give a lecture once, and he is definitely not an apologist for Europeans living in Zimbabwe or Africa.
This is a great memoir and a balanced account on a conflict which suffers from a dearth of available (and inexpensive!)literature. Most of the accounts available of the war period are either hardcore communist, or hardcore pro-European. This one lauds neither absolutely.
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Summary: Moving to Nigeria
Review: This was a great read. It gave me a good insight into Africa--where I will soon be moving with my family.
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Summary: XRhodies--don't pass this one up
Review: What a service Peter Godwin has done to and for all those youth and adults who grew up during that era of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Every person who has had the opportunity and joy of living in that Beloved Country will both laugh and cry as they relive a portion of their lives that can never be repeated, nor experienced anywhere else.
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Summary: Godwin Rocks!
Review: Wow! As a reader from Zimbabwe myself, I found Mukiwa one of the most familiar books I've ever read. In the space of 40 years, much has changed in my beloved country, yet much has not. St. Georges is a very old school which still stands today. When in gameparks and even in rural parts of the country, one often has to face the dangers listed by Godwin, from Bilharzia to crocodiles. I have always wanted a book to give to my foreign friends and relatives, relating a true impression of Africa, and I'd recommend this book in a heartbeat. It gives such vivid impressions of life in Africa, I can hardly do them justice - you'll just have to read the book yourself. The only problem with the book is that it portrays much of the country as "mud-hut" territory, which it is not. The cities of Zimbabwe remain fairly up-to-date, with the ability of experiencing the wild side of the former Rhodesia. I don't recall if the book mentions it, but Peter Godwin's younger sister, Georgina, is a popular radio dj! Many facts such as this are so vividly familiar to my mind, that this book spelled out a great panoramic view of my country, and to anyone vaguely interested in Zimbabwe (formerly known as Southern Rhodesia), I strongly recommend this book - the parallels are amazingly accurate.
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