The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe [Hardcover]

Peter Godwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2011

Journalist Peter Godwin has covered wars. As a soldier, he's fought them. But nothing prepared him for the surreal mix of desperation and hope he encountered when he returned to Zimbabwe, his broken homeland.

Godwin arrived as Robert Mugabe, the country's dictator for 30 years, has finally lost an election. Mugabe's tenure has left Zimbabwe with the world's highest rate of inflation and the shortest life span. Instead of conceding power, Mugabe launched a brutal campaign of terror against his own citizens. With foreign correspondents banned, and he himself there illegally, Godwin was one of the few observers to bear witness to this period the locals call The Fear. He saw torture bases and the burning villages but was most awed as an observer of not only simple acts of kindness but also churchmen and diplomats putting their own lives on the line to try to stop the carnage.

THE FEAR is a book about the astonishing courage and resilience of a people, armed with nothing but a desire to be free, who challenged a violent dictatorship. It is also the deeply personal and ultimately uplifting story of a man trying to make sense of the country he can't recognize as home.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this remarkable look inside Mugabe's isolated yet restive Zimbabwe, journalist Godwin (When a Crocodile Eats the Sun) and his sister, Georgina, return to their childhood home "to dance on Robert Mugabe's political grave"; that is, to observe firsthand the teetering of Africa's (and the world's) oldest tyrant at the critical moment of the 2008 elections. Although the elections promised an end to Mugabe's nearly 30-year dictatorship, even as the 84-year-old president has clung to power in a campaign of widespread terror. The depiction of the heroic (if "prissy") liberation leader against white-minority rule turned brutal power-monger is at once personal, well-informed, and at times, heart-racing. Godwin and Georgina tour the economically devastated and state-terrorized cities, farms, and diamond mines at considerable personal risk, gathering candid interviews with dispossessed farmers, marginalized elites, and former insiders to cast a light on the workings of Mugabe's dictatorship and psychology, and the "fear factor" crucial to his control. Godwin's skills as a journalist and his personal connection to Zimbabwe combine to create an astonishing piece of reportage marked by spare, stirring description, heartrending action, and smart analysis. (Mar.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Returning to his native Zimbabwe in 2008, Godwin had hoped to �dance on Robert Mugabe�s political grave.� But though Mugabe had been voted out as president, he did not concede power, instead sponsoring a brutal campaign of violence to crush his political opponents and suppress dissent in a land already devastated by hyperinflation and Mugabe�s compulsory land-redistribution program. Chronicling the violence, the suffering, and the chaos; recounting the stories of torture survivors and victims of politically motivated vigilantism; and examining Mugabe�s biography and politics (and placing himself in significant danger in the process), Godwin only occasionally recognizes the Zimbabwe of his childhood. But, finding heroism and resistance in the face of horrific carnage, he discovers a side of the nation that he had not known before. Much more than just the author�s third memoir of Zimbabwe (after Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa, 1996, and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, 2007), this selection is an important work of witness. --Brendan Driscoll

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (March 23, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031605173X
• ISBN-13: 978-0316051736
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #397,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #56 in Books > History > Africa > Zimbabwe
  • #68 in Books > History > Africa > Southern Africa

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.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 92 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lost for Words March 28, 2011

By Literati

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a fellow Zimbabwean living on foreign shores, having read Peter Godwin's The Fear I am at a loss for words. Partly because the subject matter is so bitterly painful, there is no coherent way to respond to the way the grip of power has squeezed out such a horrendous toll of human suffering, but also, no doubt, by the manner in which, despite harrowing detail, all of which he chronicles with a poignant deftness, the author still manages to transport me, with yearning, to this beautiful land. Despite the political savagery that has taken a similar toll on the wildlife, trees, rivers and mountains, Zimbabwe's haggard remnants are still proudly bursting forth. So much so that my childhood memories are keenly awakened and I feel a solid lump of sorrow for Zim's fateful journey. And I, who live in relative luxury many miles away, aware of the hard times being faced by family and friends, have imagined a subtler version of Godwin's account, probably to quieten my own fear of what has become of my home.
They call people like me, one of multitudes of Zimbabweans who live abroad, the diaspora. I knew we were of some assistance to those at home in a way by sending foreign currency and goods from time to time, but reading this book, I fear we have grossly underestimated the conditions faced by our compatriots and our absence and failure to participate is perhaps an indictment against us? I ask myself why haven't we, as a people, well educated, talented, inherently dignified, though of humble bearing, and here I speak not for myself, but the many Zimbabweans I have encountered in my life, why have we not prevented the outrage that is modern day Zim? This has troubled me over the years as I have gone about raising my children and the daily grind of my comfortable western life. But the answer is really not that complicated, it is black and white as documented in this book. The insane trajectory that took my home from it's sunny post- independence to these dark and treacherous days, is one founded on a bedrock
of fear. A groove as deep and ugly as those left by the marauding clear cutters and miners who rob Zimbabwe of its abundant fauna and tear the pristine countryside apart at its seams. I don't despair for Zimbabwe yet. I still have hope. But The Fear has
reminded me to re-examine my good fortune and consider what it is I can do to make this world a better place. This is, I think,
what any good book should do. For some lighter reading on Zimbabwe, go to: The Summoner: (The Dominic Grey Novels) (Volume 1)

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply moving and inspiring....a must-read. March 30, 2011

By Ask MK

Format:Hardcover

You'd be forgiven for mistaking the work of Peter Godwin for fiction. The world he describes in arrestingly beautiful prose, peopled with characters possessed of heroic bravery and breathtaking evil, would seem a plausible backdrop for a morality play on the corruption absolute power brings. But this story is all too real, and we ignore it at our own peril. The Fear is an exquisite, heart-rending, and unforgettable tribute to a people for whom the love of country and the struggle for liberty come at the ultimate price.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping and Inspiring March 31, 2011

By Peter K Slotwiner-Nie

Format:Hardcover

A gripping account of the plight of the citizens of Zimbabwe, whose steadfast commitment to determine their own future unleashes a murderous campaign of terror at the hands of their own president. To hear the first-hand accounts of Robert Mugabe's victims, whose courage and resolve remain unbroken against the bleakest of odds, is intensely humbling. Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, this book gives a much-needed voice to these brave people.