The Great Betrayal: The Memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith [Hardcover]

Ian Douglas Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997

Ian Smith, former president of Rhodesia, spares few of his opponents as he gives a forthright account of one of Africa's most controversial political careers. Smith details his boyhood in Southern Rhodesia, his enlistment into the Royal Air Force and his active service during World War II. After the war, he joined the United Federal Party and initiated moves with various British Governments under Macmillian and Douglas-Home. This resulted in the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, and then Britain led the world in adopting sanctions against Rhodesia. He also tells how the British Government's poor handling of the Rhodesian situation led to unrest in the area which Henry Kissinger tried unsuccessfully to quell. Eventually the first majority elections were held, the results of which Margaret Thatcher refused to recognise, leading to the Marxist-orientated rule of President Mugabe. This autobiography deals with many political events that have been conveniently glossed over. It presents a fascinating portrait of one of the 20th century's most distinguished political figures.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Smith, the white prime minister of Rhodesia who engineered the country's unilateral independence from Britain in 1965 and led resistance to the black majority until Zimbabwe was born of post-civil war negotiations in 1979, has written an unrepentant, heavily detailed account of his leadership. He proceeds from the posture that the black majority, significantly rooted in traditional culture, should be "gradually" brought up to "standards of Western civilization." He condemns outside countries that "arrogant[ly]" applied sanctions against Rhodesia and associates black opposition more with communism than nationalism. He claims that "our black people" had the best education, health, housing, services, etc. in Africa, not acknowledging the gap between white and black Rhodesia. He refers to black "terrorists" while downplaying the cruelties of Rhodesia's armed forces. Yet Smith makes some points. He offers inside details of negotiation, including pressure from South Africa. His title refers to the hypocrisy of the British Commonwealth, which imposed sanctions on Rhodesia while many of its other members were one-party states. And he reminds us that Zimbabwe's black-run Mugabe government has steadily flouted democracy. Photos not seen by PW.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 418 pages
• Publisher: Blake Pub; First Edition edition (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857821769
• ISBN-13: 978-1857821765
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,285,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative read about one of the world's premier statesmen, October 11, 2000

By 

Bobby Dillard (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Great Betrayal: The Memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith (Hardcover)

This book gives the other side to the Rhodesia conflict namely that of former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith who is probably one of the most unfairly despised individuals in the world. Far from being an uncouth racist as much of the world's press would classify him as, Smith shows himself to have been a model statesmen and ardent patriot to his beloved Rhodesia. Clearly the book reads like a Greek tragedy in which tiny Rhodesia is betrayed by its mother country (Britain) and even its friends (South Africa) in its long struggle against terrorist organizations in which it racked up an impressive military record. For all interested in that little country that once was, this is a definate necessary read. After finishing the tome, one can see why Ian Smith so richly deserved the praise he received from his fellow Rhodesians and anti-communist well-wishers around the world. God bless you, Ian Smith, for your valiant fight.

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Defeat For Mankind, May 31, 2000

By 

Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great Betrayal: The Memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith (Hardcover)

As a child of 10 I was thrilled by Ian Smith and his brave defiance of a perfidious, corrupt and flaccid British Government.UDI to me was like our own Declaration of Independence.The Great Betrayal gives a blow-by-blow account of the forces which shaped the politics of Rhodesia, the events leading to UDI and subsequent events which led to majority rule.Tales of duplicity will shock but not surprise as we are all now aware of the calibre of the men and women who shape this tale. Perhaps the greatest disappointment is to learn of the inaction of Margaret Thatcher whom I greatly admire. My opinions of a lot of people were either confirmed or lowered after reading this book. Smith has been accused of racism but should more properly be described as paternalistic. Mugabe is the real racist.Smith goes out of his way to naively portray men like Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter and Andrew Young as well-meaning ambassadors of peace. In reality, these men saw Rhodesia only as a pawn which was disposable in the great game with the Communist menace. What they and their successors have foisted upon the Zimbabwean people is as great as any crime perpetrated by Saddam Hussein or Slobo Milosevic. The difference is that we went to war for the latter so that refugees could return home yet most of the so-called free world won't even allow Zimbabwe refugees a haven. Smith is not entirely blameless in that he allows himself to be taken in time after time by the blandishments of those who had proven themselves dishonourable, dissembling hypocrites. The history is gripping, but Smith's style is sometimes tedious. He most certainly overuses the words "sadly" and "regrettably".The lesson in this is that local problems should be solved locally. Though Rhodesia's neighbors were egging on Mugabe's murderous guerillas, the Rhodesian Army could have smashed them all if given free rein to do so. Only if the Russians became directly involved should the West have meddled. One can only wonder how prosperous Zimbabwe might be today had Smith and the Chiefs been permitted to hammer out a meaningful transitional agreement. In view of the current desperate situation,by allowing the Mugabe dictatorship to take root, the Western Powers delivered a defeat for civilization and for mankind.

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Selling-out Rhodesia, December 31, 2000

By 

John Elsegood (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great Betrayal: The Memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith (Hardcover)

If you are British or American you will need a strong stomach to read this book. Indeed you may well want to throw-up at the political chicanery and cowardice of your politicians and diplomats. One examaple is the attitudes of Lords Carrington and Soames. During the 1980 Zimbabwe-Rhodesia election, Ian Smith, ( former Rhodesian PM, 1964-79 ) reminded Soames, the British Governor responsible for overseeing fair play, that the Lancaster House agreement was being breached by massive political intimidation by ZANU(PF) forces. Soames conceded that he had received over 1000 affidavits, many endorsed by British observers who had witnessed Mugabe's comrades distinctive campaigning style-with the point of a gun!

When Smith, who had handed government over to Bishop Abel Muzorewa in mid-1979, reminded Soames to do his duty and disqualify the gangsters from participating in the poll, Soames pathetically replied that Carrington ( foreign secretary in Thatcher's new Tory government) advised that such a course would be unacceptable to the OAU (Organisation of African Unity) and that "the principles and standards on which you and I were brought up to believe in, are no longer part of this world." One could add, probably because certain British 'gentlemen' see no further need to stand up for such values!

When you add the craveness of virtually every senior British politician from MacMillan onwards, plus the duplicity of the South African government under Vorster, and the incompetent Carter Administration in the US, you have a sorry history of the decline of western values, something that has endured for the latter 40 years of the 20th century.

Ian Smith has written superb memoirs and his 1997 warnings in this book ( and also to this reviewer, via the phone in early Jan.1998 ) over Mugabe's politicisation of farm land is now even more apparent as the Zimbabwe gangster engages in his 'ethnic cleansing' against white farmers as a sordid distraction to his his 20 year rule of disaster and destruction.

Of course those western liberals who were so distressed about the political and social life of Rhodesia, under Smith, remain strangely mute over the real atrocities of Mugabe, preferring, like those who preceded the Good Samaritan, to pass by on the other side to another 'politically correct' crusade.

Whatever faults Smith had pales into insignificance besides his detractors and the hoodlums and nitwits running Zimbabwe today.