Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa PDF
Preview Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa
Winner of the Esquire-Apple-Waterstone’s Award for Non-fiction Winner of the George Orwell Prize (for political writing) Runner up for the NCR Non-fiction Award Praise for Mukiwa: “Time and time again in his uncanny ability to evoke the sensations and secret observations of childhood I was reminded of the young Kipling.” —Trevor Royle, Scotland on Sunday “A remarkable memoir.” —Time “I have no hesitation in saying that Mr. Godwin’s book is a classic.” —Anthony Daniels, The Sunday Telegraph “It makes you laugh even while you’re weeping.” —Fiammatta Rocco, The Literary Review “Mukiwa ... is an antiheroic memoir. It is filled with what one is in the habit of calling adventure: narrow escapes, a harrowing return in disguise ... a last- minute flight from certain arrest and imprisonment. But these episodes can be called adventures only if they’re stripped of their private meaning, and that, fortunately, Godwin is unable to do; the book lacks the roistering jingoism. . . that is necessary to such stories. Instead, it chronicles the development of a kind of internal exile ... a relocation of allegiance, for which Godwin’s ‘adventures’ are the external signposts. The tone throughout the book—muted, graciously sad —is the consequence of a liberal mind discovering its own inutility. . . . What’s special is the sense one gets ... of a conscience that tries to resist coarsening and does not forgive its own failures.” —Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New Yorker “A beautiful, painful, and subtle memoir.” —The Economist “The book demonstrates the vivid readability and the magpie’s eye for a telling detail that make him an exceptional journalist.” detail that make him an exceptional journalist.” —Hugo Barnacle, The Independent “This book is superb: a tragic song of lament for the land of our youth.” —Graham Lord, The Daily Telegraph “This fine and powerful memoir is a marvelous contribution (to the literature of Africa).” —William Boyd, The Sunday Times “Mukiwa . . . speaks directly to the heart about the hope of childhood and the gradual extinguishing of that hope. It also speaks of something else: The beauty and dignity of the human spirit as it suffers and survives.” —The Jerusalem Post “A searing and brilliant piece of writing, a lasting literary and personal achievement ... If you read only one book about that place and time, make it Mukiwa, by Peter Godwin.” —Shaun Johnson, The Sunday Independent (Johannesburg) “A very good book, the best to come out of the war for independence in Zimbabwe. Its strength is its balance and the width of experience of the author who had many black friends, was a liberal, brought up by liberal parents, and then had to fight in a war he hated.” —Doris Lessing, The Observer “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. ... A fervid blend of My Traitor’s Heart, Dispatches, and Heart of Darkness, Godwin’s account ranks with some of the finest war reportage of this century.” — Kirkus Reviews “Forget about the breast-beating confessions by people who have grown up under apartheid or neighboring forms of racist colonialism. Peter Godwin’s book is, at last, a totally unsentimental, honest testimony—written without fear of who, white or black, might be shocked—of the conflict, confusion and compromises. . . . Godwin’s account belongs not only to the history of Zimbabwe and the African continent. It is part of the truth about the era of colonialism and its consequences that must be pieced together, now, in the history of this, the century for which we are all, in one way or another, history of this, the century for which we are all, in one way or another, responsible.” —Nadine Gordimer Mukiwa Mukiwa A White Boy in Africa Peter Godwin Copyright © 1996 by Peter Godwin All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, or the facilitation thereof, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Any members of educational institutions wishing to photocopy part or all of the work for classroom use, or publishers who would like to obtain permission to include the work in an anthology, should send their inquiries to Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. First published in Great Britain in 1996 by Picador, an imprint of Macmillan General Books Printed in the United States of America Published simultaneously in Canada Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Godwin, Peter. Mukiwa: a white boy in Africa / Peter Godwin, p. cm. eBook ISBN-13: 978-0-80219493-0 1. Godwin, Peter. 2. Zimbabwe—Ethnic relations. 3. Zimbabwe— History—Chimurenga War, 1966-1980—Personal narratives. I. Title. DT2984.G6A3 1996 968.91′04—dc20 96-2283 Grove Press an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc. 841 Broadway New York, NY 10003 Distributed by Publishers Group West www.groveatlantic.com For my mother and father, with love Preface Mukiwa is intended as a memoir rather than an autobiography. The characters who populate these pages are a mixture of actual people and composites. I have changed many of their names and identifying characteristics, not particularly for legal reasons, but to protect them against possible intrusion. In some cases, especially in the war chapters, I have altered quite a lot – people still risk retribution. But all famous people, politicians and other leaders, are accurately identified. Although Mukiwa is a work of nonfiction it is not a work of forensic research. For that you should read Rhodesians Never Die – the history book I wrote (with Ian Hancock) on the end of white Rhodesia. In Mukiwa I have written as I remember, with all the foibles and imperfections brought on by the passage of time. This book was both easy and traumatic to write. There are things here which I had very effectively buried under layers of emotional scar tissue. The process of tearing it away was in some cases pleasurable and in others deeply disturbing. But it was always liberating. I have tried not to be wise after the event but to describe things as they seemed at the time, even where that may have portrayed us unattractively. I have tried not to preach or to politic. I have tried not to be sentimental or censorious. Above all the book is intended as a tribute to Africa – the home I never knew I had. Peter Godwin London, 1996
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