Burundi: The Biography of a Small African Country (Columbia/Hurst) - Hardcover

Watt, Nigel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231700903 ISBN 13: 9780231700900

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Burundi is Rwanda's twin, a small country in Central Africa with a complex history of ethnic tension between its Hutu and Tutsi populations and a deep familiarity with traumatic events, including the mass killing of over 200,000 people. Burundi was trapped in a state of civil war until 2004, after which Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela mediated a lengthy and eventually successful movement toward peace. Burundi's contemporary era has brought new institutions to the country, including a more open constitution, which led to the election of a majority Hutu government in 2005. Still, apart from ethnic tensions, many problems persist, particularly the entrenched poverty of most Burundians, which has led NGOs to call Burundi one of the most deprived countries on earth.

Nigel Watt traces the origins of Burundi's political crises and illuminates recent historical events through interviews with leading political figures and survivors of atrocity. A unique and rare portrait, Watt's "biography" demystifies Burundi's little-understood "ethnic" divisions and provides a thorough understanding of this beautiful and cultured land, which has produced a remarkable line of peacemakers, journalists, teachers, and political and religious leaders.

About this title

About the Author:

From 1998 to 2002, Nigel Watt worked in Burundi for Christian Aid and for CARE International, growing to love the country and dedicating himself to understanding its complexities. He was awarded an MBE (The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for "services to national reconciliation." He has been involved with Africa for most of his life, first as a teacher and head of a secondary school in postindependence Zambia, supporting the development of youth voluntary service in a number of African countries, and then serving as director of the Africa Centre in London.

Review:

A very accessible, empathic, and yet accurate book. Nigel Watt puts people and their experiences and emotions at the middle of his story.

(Filip Reyntjens, University of Antwerp)

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0231700903
• ISBN 13: 9780231700900
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224