Where We Have Hope: A Memoir of Zimbabwe [Hardcover]

Andrew Meldrum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2005

When American-born journalist Andrew Meldrum arrived in Harare in 1980, he planned to stay for only three years-but he quickly fell in love with the country and its people. Newly independent from Britain, Zimbabwe was infused with the optimism of new natio -building. But over the twenty years he lived there, Meldrum watched as President Robert Mugabe gradually consolidated power and the government slowly evolved into violent despotism. The last foreign journalist in Zimbabwe, Meldrum was seized and expelled in May 2003, forced to leave for writing "bad things" about Mugabe's regime. In Where We Have Hope, Meldrum describes what it meant to live through this period of hope and tragedy: how hundreds of people lined up to tell him of horrific massacres; how he once hid from Mugabe's thugs in a cupboard; how he was harassed, arrested, imprisoned, and tried. Ultimately, however, this is a story of the triumph of hope-of doctors, teachers, journalists, and lawyers who refuse to accept the abuses of Mugabe's rule. Where We Have Hope is a moving memoir that will join recent classics as landmark works on Africa in the postcolonial era.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Journalist Meldrum was in Rhodesia to cover its 1980 decolonization for the Guardian and stayed on to watch the country's agonizing transformation into a horrific kleptocracy. The book opens with Meldrum's 2003 expulsion from the country that had become Zimbabwe; he'd butted heads with Mugabe's regime for 20-plus years, during which time he wrote a spate of articles exposing various facets of the president's murderous, corrupt regime. In this defiant, courageous memoir, Meldrum, an American, also details black aggression against the bigoted white minority, who treat the nation's "ordinary Zimbabweans" disgracefully. He examines Mugabe's ghastly massacres and all-too-familiar tactics of targeting gays, intellectuals, political foes and the press. He witnesses food riots, fuel shortages, poverty, inflation (at 350% and rising) as well as a family friend's son's death from AIDS —and simply yet powerfully shows how these issues affected everyday people's lives. Despite all he has seen, Meldrum remains hopeful, and this frank account is the better for it. Photos.
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Review

'A moving account of a life lived in a world of extremes - of ugly tyranny and of the extraordinary friendships and passionate beliefs that it inspires' -- Western Mail 20040626 'Andrew Meldrum has been a witness to the unfolding, over the last quarter of a century, of one of the most remarkable stories of modern times. He has observed at close quarters the laying waste, in peacetime, of Zimbabwe...Meldrum's perspective is unique in a number of ways, and this makes his memoir an invaluable record as well as a compelling read...One of the most attractive aspects of Meldrum's brisk but vivid account of the next 23 years is the way it reveals his personal engagement in the process. He was an objective reporter - over the most significant period of his stay, for The Guardian - but he also lived, laughed and suffered with ordinary Zimbabweans. Most importantly, he did not allow any preconceptions he brought with him to interfere with his openness to what was going on around him...the account of Meldrum's own arrest, trial and illegal expulsion makes compulsive reading, while his portrayal of the many heroic Zimbabweans who represent, let us hope, the future of the country once the Mugabe dictatorship is buried, is generous, moving and inspiring.' -- The Tablet 20040814 'Accessible and comprehensive ! Meldrum's vivid and insightful reflections will enrich any reader's understanding of this sorry chapter of African history' -- Literary Review 20040701 'What makes Meldrum's story compelling is his honesty: his early nervousness; the trials of his rickety Renault 4' -- The Independent 20040701 '[Andrew Meldrum] is irrepressible in his quest to show how the spirit of Zimbabweans he meets ... makes a brighter future inevitable.' -- Joe Churcher (syndicated review) 20040731 'Important book ... to be so reminded of this dire chapter in African history is a sad but salutary and, in the end, strangely hopeful experience' -- Traveller Magazine 20040701 'He does not spare us from the brutality and wickedness that is gripping Zimbabwe, but by telling the stories of its people and allowing us to hear their voices, he shows that amidst the repression and cruelty of Mugabe's state, there is courage, dignity, and above all real hope' -- Rageh Omaar 20040701 'Meldrum's writing is driven by his love for Zimbabwe and its people, and he still believes the country has a future -- but not with Mugabe.' -- Irish Times 20050402 'Meldrum's writing is driven by a passion for the country and its people ... essential reading.' -- Observer 20040627 'Marvellous, rich and rewarding ... [A] compelling book' -- The Times 20040717 'A story of disillusion, chaos, violence, extraordinary courage and some hope' -- The Guardian 20040717 '(Meldrum) shows that amidst the repression and cruelty of Mugabe's state, there is courage, dignity, and above all real hope' -- Rageh Omaar, BBC Correspondent 20040717 'What makes Meldrum's story compelling is his honesty: his early nervousness; (and) the trials of his rickety Renault 4.' -- The Independent 20040717 'His memoir is written with admirable control and clarity, shedding light on the complexity ... yet his passion for his adopted country never fails to shine through.' Nicola Barr -- The Guardian 20050312 'So readable!His personable, matter-of-fact tone serves less to dismiss the extraordinary injustices the country and its people have suffered and more to highlight them by giving them context.' -- Observer 20050410 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press (May 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871138964
• ISBN-13: 978-0871138965
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,906,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moved me deeply, March 3, 2006

By 

S. C. Chimbira "Shonagh" (Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where We Have Hope: A Memoir of Zimbabwe (Hardcover)

As a Zimbabwean living abroad I sceptically picked up a copy of this book. I would read with dread Andrew Meldrums daily news reports on the dire and continually worsening situation in Zimbabwe on a Zimbabwean news website. I was very pleasantly surprised by the depth of feeling he developed for the country and his positive outlook in this book. I was moved by all his personal experiences and interactions with people there and the dangers he faced on a daily basis just doing his job. Someone needed to speak up and let the international community know about the teriible things that went happened in Zimbabwe from Gukurahundi to the farm invasions and I admire him for his bravery and perseverance. He chronicled our history from an eyewitness point of view and brought it all alive again. It allowed me to relive the 80's and 90's again. I cringe whenever I hear news of Zimbabwe on the television but this book made me feel proud to be Zimbabwean and I have recommended to my non-Zimbabwean friends as a way of understanding what happened to Zimbabwe. Excellent book!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Review of a Nation's Struggles, July 1, 2005

By 

Scott (Cary, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where We Have Hope: A Memoir of Zimbabwe (Hardcover)

Meldrum delivers an excellent albeit admittedly biased depiction of Zimbabwe's efforts to come to grips with independence and the fight of the nation's majority against the power hungry Mugabe regime. The narrative is flawed at points as Meldrum's personal views as a journalist sometimes get in the way of providing a truly objective account, but on the whole his biases are forgivable and would be shared by the vast majority of people living in industrialized nations. For the most part, Meldrum offers a detailed description of Zimbabwe's troubled political scene and the rash of human rights offenses plaguing the country interspersed with personal accounts of his time spent in the country and his struggles as a foreign correspondent, leaving the reader with concern for the present state of affairs and, as the title suggests, a bright hope for the future.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is still hope for Zimbabwe, February 12, 2007

By 

Ms. L. A. Grout "Lisa" (Canada & UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where We Have Hope: A Memoir of Zimbabwe (Paperback)

As a visitor to Zimbabwe - I love it there, the people, the landscape, the optimism everything. And to read a book which does echo how most of the people feel is rare. There is still hope that Mugabe will be removed and democracy prevail. The so called issue with white and blacks is not as the media and Mugabe portray at all. People just want their freedom and a decent economy so they can have a standard of living above the poverty line. Andrew Meldrum may be biased as he does love Zim and the people but its about time that the truth is highlighted as no one has tried to prevent this on the international scene. I'm glad someone has tried to show the world what is really happening in Zimbabwe.