Description
Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa by Peter Godwin is a gripping memoir that chronicles the author’s childhood and adolescence in Rhodesia during a time of political upheaval. Beginning in 1964, young Peter witnesses the murder of his neighbour by guerrillas, marking the start of the decline of white colonial rule. Told through the eyes of a child, the memoir captures the wonder and fear of a world filled with leopard hunts, lepers, witch doctors, and forest fires, alongside the unique perspective of his mother’s post-mortems.
As Peter grows into adolescence, the memoir becomes a vivid account of a boy-soldier navigating the dangers of civil war, and eventually an adult returning as a journalist to cover the violent transition to majority rule in Zimbabwe. Godwin’s narrative is both intensely personal and historically illuminating, blending the pace and tension of a thriller with evocative descriptions of a land marked by beauty, danger, and change.
This book is ideal for readers of memoir, African history, and Southern African literature, offering a powerful and moving perspective on life during a time of profound social and political transformation.
