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Product Description
Mukiwa begins in the magnificent mountains of eastern Rhodesia in the 1960s. In the eyes of young Peter Godwin, the land is an endless source of wonder and adventure: of leopard hunting, witch doctors, lepers, and snakes. Then one day he stumbles upon the body of his neighbor, killed by African guerrillas, and this perception is changed forever. Its an unforgettable tale of innocence lost under African skies as we follow Godwin's awakening to the often savage struggle between whites and blacks, his horror when he is forced to fight in a civil war he detests, and his experiences as a journalist covering the country's violent transition to black rule as Rhodesia's colonial era comes to an end and the new state of Zimbabwe is born from its bloody ashes."The insanity of war, the beauty and mystery of Africa, the chaotic death pangs of colonialism, an extraordinary coming of age: All swirl hauntingly together in this compelling account of the end of Rhodesia." "--Kirkus Reviews" "A very good book, the best to come out of the War for Independence in Zimbabwe so far...It is an informative book, full of history, and should be in the library of anyone interested in southern Africa."--Doris LessingA
Amazon.com Review
Peter Godwin grew up in Rhodesia during the end of white rule. While his Rhodesians Never Die is a historical account of that time, Mukiwa is a more personal narrative--a testament to Africa and a memoir as seen through the eyes of a child becoming a young man amidst civil war. Spanning 1964-1982, from when Godwin was a boy of six in Rhodesia to when he returned to Zimbabwe as a journalist covering the bloody transition back to black rule, Godwin personalizes a difficult era in South African history with clarity, intelligence, humor, empathy, and sharp prose.
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