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Peter Godwin
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Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa Paperback – November 30, 2004

by Peter Godwin (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 663 ratings
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Mukiwa opens with Peter Godwin, six years old, describing the murder of his neighbor by African guerillas, in 1964, pre-war Rhodesia. Godwin's parents are liberal whites, his mother a governement-employed doctor, his father an engineer. Through his innocent, young eyes, the story of the beginning of the end of white rule in Africa unfolds. The memoir follows Godwin's personal journey from the eve of war in Rhodesia to his experience fighting in the civil war that he detests to his adventures as a journalist in the new state of Zimbabwe, covering the bloody return to Black rule. With each transition Godwin's voice develops, from that of a boy to a young man to an adult returning to his homeland. This tale of the savage struggle between blacks and whites as the British Colonial period comes to an end is set against the vividly painted background of the myserious world of South Africa.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    432 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Grove Press
  4. Publication date
    November 30, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1.1 x 8.2 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0802141927
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0802141927
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grove Press (November 30, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802141927
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802141927
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 663 ratings

About the author

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Peter Godwin

Peter Godwin

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Peter Godwin is the award winning author of The Fear, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, and Mukiwa, all published by Picador. He writes for various publications including the New York Times magazine, National Geographic and Vanity Fair. He lives in Manhattan.

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4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
663 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

BT Invictus
5.0 out of 5 stars Solidified Godwin as a Favorite Writer of Mine
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2013
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The best memoirs not only render a life, but also a unique time and place. I can't think of a memoir that has done this more beautifully than Peter Godwin's Mukiwa, the first installment in his Rhodesia/Zimbabwe trilogy. By now, I've read all three, and this one is not only my favorite within the trilogy, but definitely my new favorite memoir, and quite possibly one of my favorite books. As a work of creative non-fiction, it's deeply personal, yet unsentimental. It's meticulously crafted and literary, yet still honest and raw. It's a kind of bildungsroman, set against the backdrop of a crumbling Rhodesia, yet it's so much more than a coming-of-age story.

Divided into three books, Mukiwa tells the story of Godwin's rather charmed childhood in Rhodesia, his experiences as an adolescent serving faithfully, yet begrudgingly, in the national police force during the war, and his return to Zimbabwe as an adult, as he tries to make sense the choices he's made, the tragedy that has afflicted his family, the dissolution of Rhodesia and the lingering deleterious effects of colonialism.

It's difficult to choose a favorite section, as they each contribute uniquely to the big picture of his life; however, I just can't praise the first section enough. In it, Godwin captures all the poignancy of childhood - any childhood - as well as the magical quality of his own very strange and wonderful life growing up in Africa. In reading this first section, I was reminded of a theme that Sandra Cisneros grapples with in her vignette "Eleven" - this idea that each year of our lives represents a self that doesn't melt into our current self as we go from birthday to birthday, but that, rather, the little eight year old self is still there, hidden away "Russian-doll style" within the nine year old self, which is still lurking inside the ten year old self, and so on, all the way up to our current age. The honesty and tenderness with which Godwin recounts his childhood years resonated quite deeply with the way I saw the world as a child - albeit, a very different world. His writing made me feel as though that former child is still very much a part of my current self. Children are simultaneously naive and perceptive, irreverent and compassionate - like the child who laughs at a drunken homeless man when he falls over in the alley, and then weeps bitterly when she learns he has no family to go home to and no bed to lie down in at night. As though he were some Freudian psychoanalyst, Peter Godwin so expertly draws that child out so that you are suddenly seeing the strange and hilarious characters of his own youth in that deliciously flippant, yet painfully tender, light, so unique to childhood. As he recounted events, I often found myself stifling what I worried was inappropriate laughter, only to find myself in tears on the very next page. And, as dark and tragic as this memoir is, there are a few memorable moments of levity and ironic humor.

It's late, and I feel like this review is descending into cheesy madness really fast, so I think I may stop. It's very difficult to capture in words every feeling I have about this memoir. It's too good!
9 people found this helpful
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Gillian A
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let's go to Zimbabwe tonight
Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2006
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'Mukiwa' opens with a six year old boy describing what he sees of a local murder. So begins this enthralling memoir. This saga of a youth growing up in troubled Zimbabwe (Rhodesia at that time), is divided into three parts.

Book I, which comprises half of the book, is seen through the eyes of a child and told in that voice. As such it is reminiscent of 'Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight' by Alexandra Fuller. Both authors grew up in the eastern highlands of Rhodesia, near Umtali and the Mozambique border. One is a boy's story, the other a girl's and the differences are largely stylistic. They were separated by about ten years and 'Dogs' focuses only on one family, with the bush war only in the background, whereas 'Mukiwa' gives a broader picture of life in the remote, often dangerous, areas of the country. A preschool boy accompanies his mother, a doctor, to various bush clinics where she is both GP and pathologist. Before long he can recognize not only dead bodies, but also malaria, TB, leprosy and other ailments. In this lonely place he forms close relationships with the various African staff and describes the harshness of their life there as well as the miseries of boarding school for a young child.

In Book II, the author's hopes dashed that he cannot leave the country to attend university because of the compulsory conscription policy, finds himself in the midst of a brutal guerrilla war. His job is made harder by his ambivalent feelings as he frequently sympathizes with the `terrorists'. He leaves finally only when defeat is conceded.

In Book III he returns to the country, now with a law degree from Cambridge. Joining a distinguished firm in the capital, he is put to work defending prominent, former `freedom fighters' of the Matabele tribe. The new Mugabe government, dominated by the Shona tribe, ignores the fact that the Matabele had fought alongside them to win the war and are now moving against them, re-establishing the age-old hatred and rivalry between the two groups. With a bitter-sweet outcome of the trial, the author decides to become a journalist with a London newspaper. In this capacity he is urged to investigate reports of genocide and acts of brutality in Matabeleland, again perpetrated by government forces. His reports are largely ignored by both the Zimbabwe government and the international community.

Published in 1996, the book naturally does not cover the more recent atrocities metered out by Robert Mugabe. It is disappointing that very few dates are given, so that the whole story sort of floats in an indistinct time. However, it is ever-absorbing, sometimes shocking and by the last part, a totally gripping tale. I even thought it would make a very good movie.
62 people found this helpful
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jhmccall
4.0 out of 5 stars Recent history which I'm sure you have little knowledge and will find interesting.
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2015
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Wow! This is a history of one of the many African nations which were built and developed into prosperous 20th century existence by European immigrants, settlers, sacrificing everything for the dream of owning land. A first hand, eye witness, account of this young boy growing to manhood in in this African nation. It is very interesting, this information about the successes and failures of life struggles in Africa. This story explains how the African nations of today came to such tragic circumstances. I will recommend this book to many of my friends who enjoy recent history. It is well written and moves right along, you'll enjoy it.
4 people found this helpful
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Mike Brooke
5.0 out of 5 stars ZIMBABWE : NOLONGER GOD'S OWN COUNTRY
Reviewed in Canada on June 4, 2023
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Godwin is an excellent author and can capture the most significant sights and sounds. After the civil war,
the country has become a Banana Republic with the Blacks having little idea about running a fertile, rich
country. And now after Magabe's death, there is little hope of improvement. It is a sad but beautiful country.
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Gabriele G.
4.0 out of 5 stars A good book about Zimbabwe
Reviewed in Italy on April 15, 2022
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A good novel about the way of living in Zimbabwe, in the post colonial era. An useful book to learn about Africa. Highly reccomended.
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ME
5.0 out of 5 stars Uneingeschränkt zu empfehlen
Reviewed in Germany on February 24, 2019
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Peter Godwin schreibt den ersten Teil seiner Biographie und keinen historischen Essay, keine akademische Abhandlung über den Bürgerkrieg sondern seine Geschichte. Die Geschichte eines in Rhodesien geborenen Weißen aus der Oberschicht und wie er den Übergang von einem oppressiven Regime in den Bürgerkrieg und später in die Terrorherrschaft erlebt hat.
Das Buch ist uneingeschränkt lesenswert und gibt einen sehr guten Einblick in diese Zeit und die sich daraus ergebenden Verwerfungen.
Peter Godwin rechnet nicht ab, oder gegen. Er zeigt auf.
Jedem, der sich für den Übergang afrikanischer Kolonialgesellschaften mittels "Befreiungskämpfern" in das aktuelle politische System interessiert ist das Buch uneingeschränkt zu empfehlen.
Aber auch jedem, der sich für eine ehrliche Biographie eines weißen Afrikaners interessiert
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Gurnoor Grewal
5.0 out of 5 stars A READER'S DELIGHT
Reviewed in India on August 6, 2017
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This book is a tribute to Africa (in particular North Rhodesia,now Zimbabwe) by someone who saw the country pass through very critical times.It chronicles the life of Peter Godwin through the independence of North Rhodesia from the Queen and later white rule.The author gives vivid description of his days in a boarding school and murders of white people happening around him.
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Astonishing
5.0 out of 5 stars A very deep book about Godwin's youth in Zimbabwe
Reviewed in France on March 12, 2016
Verified Purchase
If you are interested in Rhodesia during white rule and how things evolved there during the 60's and 70's, go and read this book. It is easy to read, yet powerful. It is impossible not to be moved by the life of Peter Godwin, and his feeling of lost homeland and identity. The last chapters about the massacres in Matabeleland in the 1980's are very violent, but depicts his experience when he came back in Zim as a reporter. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in colonial history and recent African history as well. Well done!
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