Book review: The Fear

Knowing of Walt's interest in Zimbabwe -- one of the poorest and most misruled countries in the world -- Agent 17 asked if I'd yet read The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe, by Peter Godwin. I replied that I hadn't, and immediately hied myself off to the local library where I was pleased to find it and a surprising number of other books on Rhodesia and its miserable successor.

Before 17's reminder I hadn't been in a big hurry to get Godwin's book, because I knew of the family and their white liberal, Stephen Clarksonish sympathies. Peter Godwin's parents -- father a Jew, mother not -- came out to Rhodesia after WWII, as did many other Brits who were nothing back in Old Blighty and aspired to be bwanas in British Africa.

Although their children -- Peter and his younger sister Georgina -- went to the right (white) schools and enjoyed the privileges of little baases and medems, they quite unaccountably acquired "red socks", becoming admirers of all things black and haters of the white society of their country. Some Americans would have called them "nigger-lovers".

Predictably, they sympathized with the black terrorists during the bush war of the 70s, and rejoiced at the coming of independence and majority rule. Only later did Peter learn that Comrade Bob's idea of "one man one vote" is that he's the man and his is the vote. The scales fell off Peters's ideas during the Gukurahundi ("ethnic cleansing") in Matabeland in 1983. It was then that he found himself on the wrong side of Mugabe's law, and "gapped it" to greener -- or less black -- pastures.

His sister, Georgina, took a little longer to realize that a dictator is a dictator, no matter whether black or white. She was a spokesperson for Bob's régime until the mid-90s, a bingo-caller on the state-owned radio/TV network -- Zimbabwe's one and only -- until the mid-90s. Peter spends a lot of time, in The Fear, talking about his adorable sister, but modestly omits this little smudge on her résumé.

To get to the book... In April 2008, when it appeared that the MDC (the opposition party led by Morgan Tsvangirai) had won a badly-rigged presidential election and was set to oust Mugabe from power, Peter and his addled sister decided to return to Zimbabwe from their comfortable homes in, errr, New York and London, to record the dramatic reversal of the country's fortunes which was sure to follow.

Things didn't quite turn out that way. In Africa, you can't lose an election. The worst you can do -- in Zimbabwe at least -- is tie. So, while the Godwins were interviewing victims of Mugabe's pre- and post-election violence, Tsvangirai settled for the position of Prime Minister in a Government of National Unity (GNU). Mugabe retained the presidensity and the only key to State House. The GNU, of course, has turned out to be a complete farce, which is why Zimbabweans say no GNUs is good GNUs. Comrade Bob clings to power, and will do so until someone or something does for him.

About half of The Fear is a catalogue of horrific examples of Bob's brutal and relentless campaign against the MDC and all who would oppose him. The details of torture, rape, pillage and murder make gruesome reading. Peter Godwin deserves credit for recording these stories and naming names of victims and perpetrators alike. That part of the book should be read (but not while eating) to appreciate the enormity of Bob's crimes against the humanity. Walt hopes that one day he will be brought to trial, which is exactly what he now fears.

The Fear would be a lot better if an editor had excised the other half of the book, which is given over to little anecdotes about how cute and precious Peter's children and sister are. Sample: "Georgina is tapping at her netbook, which is covered in leopard-print laminate and coordinates with her blouse."

We also learn that Georgina once made love in the open air on top of Cecil Rhodes's grave while rainbow skinks watched, that she gave birth to a daughter named Xanthe and planted a tree on top of the placenta. TMI. Skip over those parts.

You should also ignore Peter's proclivity for hyperbole. He plays fast and loose with numbers. Example: "...up to 700,000 were left homeless". The weasel words there are "up to".

Walt also found annoying the white liberal bias that is still evident in Godwin's writing. He calls the pre-1994 government of South Africa, "the apartheid authority". And Rhodesia was under "white settler rule", not the Ian Smith government. Never mind that the Godwins were themselves white settlers. And never mind that Ian Smith was right, a fact which the author can't bring himself to acknowledge.

Read The Fear anyway for a good explanation of how Mugabe won the 2008 election after all, and insight into how African democracy works. Not.