Customer Reviews

Rhodesians Never Die (State and Democracy Series)

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"Rhodesians Never Die" is a comprehensive history of the European population that ruled pre-independence Zimbabwe. This book takes a cynical view of Rhodesia's struggle to maintain minority rule amid increasing outside and internal pressures.

Godwin and Hancock put together an amazing amount of information in this work that includes even the smallest detail. "Rhodesians Never Die" chronicles every event, argument, article and demographic affecting Rhodesia for more than a decade.

The only drawback to this exhaustive work is its critical view of Ian Smith and Rhodesia's so called 'way of life'. Reading this book I got the impression that the authors arrived with preconceived conclusions about Rhodesia that weren't supported by their arguments. This could be due in part to the fact that this book does not relate Rhodesians to international influences or to the black population. I would liked to have seen a more classical argument and counter-argument to Rhodesia's problems.

Nonetheless, those who read this book will be greatly surprised to see how moderately the authors portray Rhodesia's Prime Minister. Even though 'Old Smithy' is not shown favorably, he wasn't the extremist as he is so often labelled. That role was played by other segments of Rhodesia's political spectrum.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has read Peter Godwin's "Mukiwa" or would like to learn more about the politics of southern Africa. This book was well worth the wait.

The writing is pretty flat so it is tough to see how someone without genuine interest in Zimbabwe would care about this book. However, for those of us who are interested, this work has tons of information about the Rhodesian mentality -- cultural, social, political, etc. It also contains a lot about the rise (and fall) of the Rhodesian Front and current President Robert Mugabe. This is one of the better books on southern Africa's history.

This book piece by piece debunks the myrhs surounding the Rhodesian war and sociaty.

Itshould be made compulsory reading for all the ex Rhodesian when-we's who live around the world today.

If only some body would write a book this good debunking the myth of Mugabes noble freedom fighters