FIRST EDITION, published by Blake Publications, 1997, index, 419 pages, illustrated, some slight wear to dust jacket otherwise condition: as new.
Ian Smith, former president of Rhodesia, spares few of his opponents as he gives a forthright account of one of Africa's most controversial political careers. Smith details his boyhood in Southern Rhodesia, his enlistment into the Royal Air Force and his active service during World War II. After the war, he joined the United Federal Party and initiated moves with various British Governments under Macmillian and Douglas-Home. This resulted in the Unilateral Declaration of Independence, and then Britain led the world in adopting sanctions against Rhodesia. He also tells how the British Government's poor handling of the Rhodesian situation led to unrest in the area which Henry Kissinger tried unsuccessfully to quell. Eventually the first majority elections were held, the results of which Margaret Thatcher refused to recognise, leading to the Marxist-orientated rule of President Mugabe. This autobiography deals with many political events that have been conveniently glossed over. It presents a fascinating portrait of one of the 20th century's most distinguished political figures.
Smith, the white prime minister of Rhodesia who engineered the country's unilateral independence from Britain in 1965 and led resistance to the black majority until Zimbabwe was born of post-civil war negotiations in 1979, has written an unrepentant, heavily detailed account of his leadership. He proceeds from the posture that the black majority, significantly rooted in traditional culture, should be "gradually" brought up to "standards of Western civilization." He condemns outside countries that "arrogant[ly]" applied sanctions against Rhodesia and associates black opposition more with communism than nationalism. He claims that "our black people" had the best education, health, housing, services, etc. in Africa, not acknowledging the gap between white and black Rhodesia. He refers to black "terrorists" while downplaying the cruelties of Rhodesia's armed forces. Yet Smith makes some points. He offers inside details of negotiation, including pressure from South Africa. His title refers to the hypocrisy of the British Commonwealth, which imposed sanctions on Rhodesia while many of its other members were one-party states. And he reminds us that Zimbabwe's black-run Mugabe government has steadily flouted democracy.
