13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The New Struggle for Democracy in South Africa, April 14, 2009
This review is from: Bring Me My Machine Gun: The Battle for the Soul of South Africa, from Mandela to Zuma (Hardcover)
"South Africa's negotiated transition from white rule to democracy was one of the wonders of the late twentieth century. But it was only the first chapter of the postliberation narrative."
In Bring Me My Machine Gun Financial Times journalist Alec Russell skillfully chronicles the new struggle underway in South Africa: that of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to deliver on its democratic promise and avoid the tragic trend of African liberation movements--and dominant political parties from Mexico to India--of descending into corrupt, stagnant, and ultimately dysfunctional states.
In this way, Bring Me My Machine Gun echoes Andrew Feinstein's After the Party, an inside account of the ANC's disastrous arms deal, and Justin Arenstein's exhaustive 2004 investigative report on corruption in South Africa. If, as Arenstein writes, the ongoing saga symbolizes "a painful dissection of the South African psyche," Russell's book is a timely travelogue of this trauma.
On April 22, just two weeks after narrowly escaping prosecution for corruption, Jacob Zuma will take the world stage as President of the Republic of South Africa. The question is whether this marks the beginning or end of the ongoing battle for the country's democratic soul--a complex battle which Russell covers with great depth and detail, borrowing heavily from the insights and high-level sources acquired during his two tours as a foreign correspondent in South Africa.
"Building a new society out of the rubble of an unjust system is invariably an ugly and harsh process," concludes Russell. "But fifteen years into their task, the time for excusing the ANC is over." As it eventually came to do of the apartheid regime, the world must hold the ANC accountable before it's too late. Given South Africa's powerful position on the continent, at stake is nothing less than the outcome of calamities from Zimbabwe to Sudan to Somalia. Anyone with an interest in Africa's stability should take an interest in South Africa's fragile future, starting by reading this book!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eye Opening, March 31, 2010
As a South African Ex-pat, it was great to read, it brought me up to speed on the goings on that the news never reports. I Love it!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good look at geopolitics, focusing on South Africa, August 23, 2009
This review is from: Bring Me My Machine Gun: The Battle for the Soul of South Africa, from Mandela to Zuma (Hardcover)
I'm only 21 years old, so it seems like apartheid is ancient history. This book reveals that it is most definitely not. My impression of the country - what I learned from movies - is that South Africa is that oxymoronic country in Africa with all the white people. After reading this book, I realize how simplistic that view was.
If you're at all interested in African geopolitics or you're curious about this Jacob Zuma guy you keep reading about in the international section of the newspaper, pick up this book. It's packed full of first-hand information and does a great review of South African history for those of us who don't understand how it is that a bunch of Europeans got down there in the first place.
I think we'll see South Africa become a very important country in the next several decades, as Europe, Asia and the USA venture further in to the continent of Africa for mineral and energy resources. The South Africans will have a lot to say about what goes on in their neighborhood.
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