Our Votes, Our Guns: Robert Mugabe and the Tragedy of Zimbabwe - Hardcover

Meredith, Martin

3.86

101 ratings by Goodreads

9781586481285: Our Votes, Our Guns: Robert Mugabe and the Tragedy of Zimbabwe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1586481282 ISBN 13: 9781586481285

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2002

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A study in the decline of national idealism, this book tells of the current period of Zimbabwe's history, from decolonization and the civil war in Rhodesia to the murder of white farmers prior to the 2002 national election. Much of the story focuses on the life of one man Robert Mugabe who came to power in 1980, led the country through a long period of economic and social development, and became increasingly autocratic and corrupt in the process. Meredith is a former African correspondent for the London Observer and the Sunday Times . Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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Review:

In 1980, Zimbabwe was the great hope of Africa, a place where blacks were supposed to realize their postcolonial destinies under the enlightened leadership of Robert Mugabe. But now the country formerly known as Rhodesia is an international basket case with a wrecked economy and a dim future. In this disturbing book by Martin Meredith, a British journalist with extensive experience in southern Africa, Mugabe transforms into a villain. "Year by year, he acquired ever greater power, ruling the country through a vast system of patronage, favoring loyal aides and cronies with government positions and contracts and ignoring the spreading blight of corruption," writes Meredith. "Power for Mugabe was not a means to an end, but the end itself." His reign has been so wretched, in fact, that some of the most sympathetic people in Our Votes, Our Guns are the white farmers who once supported apartheid-style rule but decided not to flee when Mugabe came to power. They were promised multiracial harmony; what they got instead was a racist dictator who thought nothing of using violence against them. Admirers of Philip Gourevitch--or, indeed, anyone with an interest in African politics--will appreciate Meredith's depressing but important story. --John Miller

About the Author:

Martin Meredith has spent much of his life writing about Africa: first as a foreign correspondent for the London Observer and Sunday Times, then as a research fellow at St. Antony's College, Oxford, and now as an independent author and commentator. He is the author of In the Name of Apartheid: South Africa's New Era, The Past is Another Country, The First Dance of Freedom, Nelson Mandela, Coming to Terms: South Africa's Search for Truth, and Africa's Elephant.

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