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Call Of The Litany Bird
 
 

Call Of The Litany Bird [Kindle Edition]

Susan Gibbs
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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Review

This is a moving book, calmly written despite the horrors it details. The Spectator Susan Gibbs's extraordinary memoir. She writes vividly about her love of Africa and its people, and it is impossible not to admire her courage. Her account is threaded with amusing anecdotes. Daily Mail Sue Gibbs is a gifted writer. She tells a compelling personal story of bringing up a family on a farm whilst living through the harrowing times as Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. It is a wonderfully evocative read. Tom Benyon OBE, Founder of ZANE Deeply moving. Douglas Hurd (Former Foreign Secretary) This book reminds us of the courage which they (the Gibbs) and so many of their friends and neighbours showed. Lord Carrington (Former Foreign Secretary) Sometimes a book can touch a part of the soul and for me, Call Of The Litany Bird is such a one. New Books Magazine One really does feel, as the book progresses, the deterioration in the situation and the worries and concerns both of the white farming community and the Africans who shared so much of their lives. The definitive account. Major General Colin Shortis (Former BMATT Commander in Zimbabwe) A heartfelt account of human endeavour to try and lead as normal and productive lives as possible throughout grave turmoil. New Africa Analysis This book is a gem. Robin Byatt CMG (British High Commissioner to Zimbabwe 1980 to 1983) There are not many books which cause me to cancel any thought of doing anything else just so I can get stuck in to them, but this one did it for me today. Go buy this book, you will not be disappointed. John Gaye (Blogger) This is an amazing story, told with modesty and without undue drama. Amazon ***** Review An elegant and easy style. Amazon ***** Review

Product Description

A compelling personal account of living through the atrocities as Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, whilst bringing up a family on a farm amidst the chaos. As a trained nurse, newly married to the son of the Governor of Rhodesia during the UDI years, Susan writes compellingly about bringing up a family on their farm in Matabeleland in the midst of the unfolding terror and growing number of atrocities. Above all it is a human story. Sometimes shocking and always moving, there is also warmth and humour as Susan creates a gripping picture of the conflict and tells of her family's survival when many of her friends and neighbouring farmers didn't. The book is a testament to the courage displayed by so many people who were tested day after day by almost unimaginable horrors.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 2574 KB
  • Print Length: 273 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 190799100X
  • Publisher: Loose Chippings (11 April 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B006VL1GD2
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #173,958 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By John
Format:Hardcover
This is a book, originally written for the benefit of the author's children, to record many of the ghastly events they witnessed in their childhood while being brought up in the paradise that was a farm in Zimbabwe's Matabeleland. It was while the infamous North Korean trained Fifth Brigade were being allowed to run wild in the part of Zimbabwe that was the homeland to the Ndebele people, Mugabe's main rivals for power. Sue Gibbs describes with great skill the wonderful sights and sounds of Africa that kept families there long after common sense might have dictated a withdrawal. She has a wonderful way in evoking the atmosphere of African life including some very evocative word pictures of the wonderful flora and fauna that were part of their day to day environs. But then she tells the stories of the horrors without dramatising them. She also brings out the wonderful relationships she and her family had with their labour force, who were really part of her extended family and all of whom had no option but to stay on when the Gibbs decided very reluctantly to sell up everything that they had built up over two generations and leave for the safety and sanity of England, a country where they realised very quickly that although they spoke the same language they were really quite alien to its ways.

This is an amazing story, told with modesty and without undue drama. Beautifully written it will chime immediately with anyone who knows any part of Africa but also with those who want to discover something of the life of those whom they may know who have 'retired' from Zimbabwe. This is their story that they probably will not tell you in ordinary conversation.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The call of the Litany Bird is a true story that needed to be documented. Susan's chronicle of the ZANU inspired atrocities against the reputed 22,000 people of Matabeleland who died, is set graphically by her. She uses pathos, humour, and her intricate knowledge and experience of Africa - its smells, its colours, its peoples and its animals (and reptiles!) to describe a daily life that became intolerable.
Having been born in Rhodesia myself and living near Bulawayo for 45 years I admire Susans ability to portray a way of life that has been swept away to the detriment of all who shared it. She 'got it right' in every way and I feel that this book is compulsory reading for every student of African politics and history.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Susan Gibbs has written a brilliant and moving account of her life in Zimbabwe around the time of its independence. It is a tale of a white family and their friends and acquaintances during a period of turbulence and horror in the country, especially in Matabeleland, where they farmed. She writes with an elegant, easy style and gives a vivid, evocative account of what she saw and how it affected the family and others. At times it is unbearably sad, at other times funny, but it is always engaging.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and, though it does not delve deeply into politics, it gave me a genuine insight into Zimbabwe and the brutalities committed by Mugabe's regime.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Another sad indictment of British government duplicity
This is an important testimony to some appalling facts that the world chose to ignore as they were inconvenient to their preferred picture of the conciliatory and magnanimous... Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. Wilcock
Call of the Litany Bird
A well written account of life in Zimbabwe at a time I remember it. Susan Gibbs has shown herself to be a good writer and keeps dismal facts interesting in such a way that you want... Read more
Published 2 months ago by mikehorner6125
Dramatic recollections of Africa
This was a delight and I couldn't put it down, reading well into the night. It is a series of recollections of dramatic, and horrific incidents that occurred in Zimbabwe around the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jools
call of the litany bird
Sue Gibbs captures at first hand the terrible events of the 1970s Zimbabwe bush war. It was amazing to me due to the fact that I served as a VSO in the same area in the 1960s and... Read more
Published 9 months ago by r obin plumridge
A tale of Simplistic Beauty and Red Eyes
I was recommended this book by a friend, who's book recommendations I regard very highly. I was surprised, actually surprised is an understatement. Read more
Published 10 months ago by SydneyAustralia
Call of the Litany Bird: Surviving the Zimbabwe Bush War
The day a friend and i arrived at the Victoria Falls Hotel after travelling from Johannesburg was the day that the six foreigners disappeared on the Vic Falls to Bulawayo Road. Read more
Published 10 months ago by K. S. Smith
One to read again ...
Call Of The Litany Bird is a beautifully written account of the terrible times that so many people endured and still endure under a monstrous dictator. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Victoria
Sorry to disagree with the other reviewers but ...
Sorry to disagree with the other reviewers but I found this book to be disjointed, repetitive, thin on detail and irritatingly "colonial" in manner. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Macc Lass
Familiar Africa
What a fantastic book! Having grown up in Africa myself I can appreciate how difficult it is to describe the unique smells & sounds that depict the land and life there. Read more
Published 12 months ago by African child
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