Customer Reviews

Africa: Another Side of the Coin: Northern Rhodesia's Final Years and Zambia's Nationhood

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This personal account of African nationhood strikes a lot nerves and leaves the reader with a lot to think about on a number of levels. Put together it provides a real roller-coaster ride of emotions and insights. The book builds up beautifully in the first chapters, providing the reader with a love for Africa - full of warmth, humour and joy. The author's level-headed account of British rule and the radicalisation of white politics juxtapositioned with the black struggle for independence is fabulous. By portraying the feelings of both sides at the time and without demonising either side, it argues a strong case for tolerance, understanding and humanity on a rock bed of libertarian values. The subsequent chapters describing the gradual changes of Zambia's UNIP government are thrilling as one gradually gets caught in the middle between one's loyalty for Kaunda's original Humanism and the realisation that the regime was not what it was supposed to be.

At the end, when it has all gone so horribly wrong, the reader is left with an understanding for how it went wrong. Uniquely, it is that understanding which may provide the reader with a respect for Africa and a feeling that for Africa there can indeed be a prosperous future in waiting. The book is a personal story of ideology versus reality, but it is also powerful background reading for any person about to move to or work with Africa.