Zimbabwe: Years of Hope and Despair
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Barclay...is able to draw on many vivid experiences to convey the detail and atmosphere of a country that has a deadly beauty.'
-- Sunday Times, June 6th 2010 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
-- Sunday Times, June 6th 2010 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
'Barclay's book is chilling and heartbreaking. He is as far from the diplomat of the 'old school' as can be imagined. As a man, and a writer, he is engaged and brave' Fergal Keane 'This beautifully written history meticulously exposes, and in good time too, precisely from what and from who Zimbabwe's voters will need protection before and during any future election' Independent 'Barclay writes a shimmering and virtuoso foreign correspondent prose' Guardian 'An excellent guide to this awful period of Zimbabwe's sad decline' Financial Times
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book. Too long have didactic books been written about Zimbabwe representing the situation in warped and simplistic ways. Barclay's book does not. It looks at the 2008 elections and what unfolded thereafter in a subtle and honest style - using the smaller events to illustrate the bigger problems. The stories of the 'everyman and woman' are told as they come - raw and complicated. Barclay's own experiences and insights help to weave an image of Zimbabwe as so many Zimbabweans see it - with no binaries and no answers. It is hard and messy and this book tells the truth intelligently and beautifully. I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the broader politics of recent Zimbabwean history, as well as the experiences of the people on the ground.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
a fascinating book,it far exceeded my expectations. a very fair unbiased account of the tragedy of Zimbabwe. A once great country reduced to poverty and despair by a brutal, egotistic, racist regime. Essential reading.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Barclay's book reflects his personal experience during a relatively short period of service in the British Embassy in Harare. The book breathes love and respect for Zimbabwe as a country and its people, covering only the last couple of years prior to 2010 and centring on the national elections. It relates a wealth of personal experience in which the author of the book often took considerable personal risk when trying to file detailed reports abroad and trying to help Zimbabweans he knew personally. For readers who want to know more of the history of Zimbabwe all the way back to the time when Mugabe came to power, other books on Zimbabwe may be more appropriate. Barclay touches only briefly on the subject trying to provide a background.
All in all. a book written with passion and well worth reading.
All in all. a book written with passion and well worth reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mugabe, Marxism and Misery
Zimbabwe provides an example of Marxism in action, ruled by a corrupt regime, dominated by the cult of personality, committing atrocities against dissidents and creating fairy... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Neutral
Zimbabwe Years of Hope and Despair, Philip Barclay
This book was desribed as "chilling and heartbreaking" on the back cover. I agree. I also agree with the sentiment of one of your other reviewers; I was left with an overwhelming... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Clouds Hill
best read on zim so far!
I found myself visiting zimbabwe three times last year and so wanted to read a few books about the country and its history - this has been by far the most enjoyable, most readable,... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mr. Keith Harris
How it really is
A very readable account, the distress relieved by his dry wit, which tells the story of current Zimbabwe through the eyes of someone who really knows and cares. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Shumba
I binned this book
Having lived in Zimbabwe for many years, and through much of its sad and turbulent history, I opened this book with great anticipation but was very quickly put off. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Chimurenga Boy
Zimbabwe a true picture
A well written book that is difficult to put down. So good to have the view of an unbiassed observer.
Published 21 months ago by Edith Bell
zimbabwe
authentic and well written but too much detail on the election process and not enough on the overall situation in the country.
Published 22 months ago by McRobert
Compulsive reading
A deeply moving book. I was left with an overwhelming sense of sadness that the hopes of a courageous people have been so brutally quashed.
S E L Robinson
S E L Robinson
Published on 30 May 2010 by Pageturner
Couldn't put it down!
This book is an incredible insight into the workings of this troubled country. Philip Barclays rare first hand view of events is a really compelling read.
Published on 26 May 2010 by H. D.
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