Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa [Paperback]

Peter Godwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997

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

Editorial Reviews

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.

From Publishers Weekly

With humor, portent and melancholy, Godwin (Rhodesians Never Die) recreates his 1960s youth in white Rhodesia. The son of relatively liberal whites, Godwin, through family servants, gained a sense of black African culture, language and religion. His mother, a doctor, helped African women with contraception; Godwin, in one of his wistful flash-forwards, observes that after the country became Zimbabwe, the government saw family planning as racist-but women in this still patriarchal society mutinied. He describes his strange private school-"racial enlightenment within a system of extreme conservatism"-and how he learned, in a job at his father's mine, that he fit in neither with racially unquestioning whites nor with restive blacks. As a policeman sworn to defend his renegade homeland against black guerrillas seeking independence, Godwin found himself pained by guerrilla cruelties to civilians, but shamed by his own role in arresting local leaders. Godwin soon concluded that a black victory was inevitable, and escaped the deepening war for studies in England, trailed by bad dreams. When he returned three years later as a lawyer and journalist, he experienced some peace-a black soldier he met absolved him offhandedly. However, his efforts to uncover the new government's human rights abuses led him to be declared an enemy of the state.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Perennial (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006097723X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060977238
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,550,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Godwin is an award winning author and journalist. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, he studied law and international relations at Cambridge and Oxford. He worked as a foreign correspondent in Africa and Eastern Europe for The Sunday Times of London. He was founding presenter and writer of Assignment/Correspondent, BBC TV's premier foreign affairs program. He now lives in Manhattan and contributes regularly to National Geographic, New York Times magazine, and BBC Radio, among others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let's go to Zimbabwe tonight, November 20, 2006

By 

Gillian A (NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa (Paperback)

'Mukiwa' opens with a six year old boy describing what he sees of a local murder. So begins this enthralling memoir. This saga of a youth growing up in troubled Zimbabwe (Rhodesia at that time), is divided into three parts.

Book I, which comprises half of the book, is seen through the eyes of a child and told in that voice. As such it is reminiscent of 'Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight' by Alexandra Fuller. Both authors grew up in the eastern highlands of Rhodesia, near Umtali and the Mozambique border. One is a boy's story, the other a girl's and the differences are largely stylistic. They were separated by about ten years and 'Dogs' focuses only on one family, with the bush war only in the background, whereas 'Mukiwa' gives a broader picture of life in the remote, often dangerous, areas of the country. A preschool boy accompanies his mother, a doctor, to various bush clinics where she is both GP and pathologist. Before long he can recognize not only dead bodies, but also malaria, TB, leprosy and other ailments. In this lonely place he forms close relationships with the various African staff and describes the harshness of their life there as well as the miseries of boarding school for a young child.

In Book II, the author's hopes dashed that he cannot leave the country to attend university because of the compulsory conscription policy, finds himself in the midst of a brutal guerrilla war. His job is made harder by his ambivalent feelings as he frequently sympathizes with the `terrorists'. He leaves finally only when defeat is conceded.

In Book III he returns to the country, now with a law degree from Cambridge. Joining a distinguished firm in the capital, he is put to work defending prominent, former `freedom fighters' of the Matabele tribe. The new Mugabe government, dominated by the Shona tribe, ignores the fact that the Matabele had fought alongside them to win the war and are now moving against them, re-establishing the age-old hatred and rivalry between the two groups. With a bitter-sweet outcome of the trial, the author decides to become a journalist with a London newspaper. In this capacity he is urged to investigate reports of genocide and acts of brutality in Matabeleland, again perpetrated by government forces. His reports are largely ignored by both the Zimbabwe government and the international community.

Published in 1996, the book naturally does not cover the more recent atrocities metered out by Robert Mugabe. It is disappointing that very few dates are given, so that the whole story sort of floats in an indistinct time. However, it is ever-absorbing, sometimes shocking and by the last part, a totally gripping tale. I even thought it would make a very good movie.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Patriot's Lamentful Memoir, February 26, 2002

By 

Hoover "Essex P. Hoover" (Ithaca, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa (Paperback)

Even though Mr. Godwin is the consumate ex-pat, he will never be anything but a Mukiwa/Zimbabwean in his heart. In an age of pervasive political correctness (pc), it it so very refreshing to read a book that speaks from the head and heart with equal patronage, distilling all the pc off the top, and assigning it to the literary land fill where it belongs. Mr. Godwin is right on point with regard to the Mugabe pc, as evidenced by the
tactics that Mugabe and his hencemen are employing as I write this, in the current 2002 election campaign. Fraud is fraud, black or white, and Mr. Godwin illustrates this point so well.
Further, he exposes the good and bad of european rule, examines the concept of duty, and handles the affairs of his family with honor and love. This book is for all people, all races, all time.
And in the ultimate salute, Mr. Godwin is kind of person who I would love to share a pint with, and have a good chat up. Well done Sir.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic - essential reading, May 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa (Paperback)

This outstanding book will conjure up vivid memories of both people and places for anyone who has ever been to Zimbabwe. As with any great piece of writing (and there is no doubt that this is one) it also peeled back the surface of the country and showed things that were not readily visible, even though they were only just beneath the skin.

One of the books many strengths is that it works on so many levels; as a story of Africa, of childhood, of colonialism and the end of Empire, as a war memoir and a study of inhumanity. The threads of each aspect wind around each other to produce a story as colourful, complex and mysterious as Africa itself.

The tales of Peter Godwin's childhood are by turns funny, poignant and suffused with the warmth of Africa and its people. By contrast, the description of the "war years" matches the very best writings on Viet Nam (David Donovan's execllent "Once a Warrior King" is an interesting counter-point from that war)and, without sensationalism or dramatisation, fully conveys the banality and brutality of "bush fire wars". The final, post-war, section is deeply moving and provides a gruelling illustration of ethnic conflict.

Although this is an important book with a powerful message, the author tells his story with a lightness of touch that never allows language to obstruct the narrative. I have not had the slighest hesitation in recommending "Mukiwa" to anyone, whether or not they are interested in Africa. There is much here to satisfy any reader but this outstanding book should be required reading for anyone who has ever been to Zimbabwe or ever plans to go there.