Rating: 
Summary: Mau Mau -- Nothing has changed
Review: While many will say that the terror of the 1950s in Kenya was the White Man's fault those same people will be hard pressed to blame the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and more all on the "invading whites".Ruark's book tells it like it was in the 1950s. And tells it like it is today in most of Africa.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent read giving both sides of the build up to Mau Mau
Review: With Uhuru, Something of Value gives an excellent insight into both sides of the story of Mau Mau. No holds are barred here and the frankness of the language used is refreshing and an accurate portayal of that time. Ruark paints a slightly sentimental picture of colonial life in Kenya although for me this doesn't harm the book and only enhances the (very real) shock of the horror when it comes.
Rating:
Summary: Something of Value
Review: You must read this book twice: once for its obvious story line, Africa and the Mau-Mau revolt and the second time for its relationship to what is currently happening in America today. The parallels are ominous. The British entered Kenya with the intent of 'civilizing' the savages. They imposed thier way of life on the natives of Kenya. However, the new values made no sense to the Kenyans. They did not understand the value of the white mans ways. Similarly, todays intellectuals and social elitists are imposing a new value system on America's children. One that has no absolutes, no heroes of substance, no morality or ethics. The children don't know if they are good or bad. They have become value-less because of the lack of value. Nothing more than wondering generalities. When you read this book with this perspective in mind, the reason for a lot of the problems that are occurring today become obvious, American society has become an amorphous blob of do what feels good whenever you feel like it and let someone else take care of you. "Something of Value" is as revealing today as it was back in the '50s. If you read it with an open mind and are willing to draw parallels to today. It is history being repeated.
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