Product Description

This book tells the story of how White Rhodesians, three-quarters of whom were ill-prepared for revolutionary change, reacted to the "terrorist" war and the onset of black rule in the 1970s. It shows how internal divisions - both old and new - undermined the supposed unity of White Rhodesia, how most Rhodesians begrudgingly accepted the inevitability of black majority rule without adjusting to its implications, and how the self-appointed defenders of Western civilization sometimes adopted uncivilized methods of protecting the "Rhodesian way of life." This is a lively and accessible account, based on careful archival research and numerous personal interviews. It sets out to tell the story from the inside and to incorporate the diverse dimensions of the Rhodesian experience. The authors suggest that the Rhodesians were more differentiated than has often been assumed and that perhaps their greatest fault was an almost infinite capacity for self-delusion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #394238 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
PETER GOODWIN is the author of When a Crocodile Eats the Sun and Mukiwa. He writes for a number of publications including The New York Times, Time, Newsweek and National Geographic. He lives in Manhattan. 

IAN HANCOCK is a graduate of Melbourne and Oxford universities, UK. He has taught modern African history at Monash and at the Australian National University, offering specialist courses on East and Southern Africa, and has written extensively on the political history of Uganda and Southern Rhodesia/Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. More recently, he has lectured in Australian and British imperial and colonial history, and published articles and books on the Liberal Party.

Customer Reviews

"Fourteen Great Years"
"Rhodesians Never Die" is a comprehensive history of the European population that ruled pre-independence Zimbabwe. This book takes a cynical view of Rhodesia's struggle to maintain minority rule amid increasing outside and internal pressures.

Godwin and Hancock put together an amazing amount of information in this work that includes even the smallest detail. "Rhodesians Never Die" chronicles every event, argument, article and demographic affecting Rhodesia for more than a decade.

The only drawback to this exhaustive work is its critical view of Ian Smith and Rhodesia's so called 'way of life'. Reading this book I got the impression that the authors arrived with preconceived conclusions about Rhodesia that weren't supported by their arguments. This could be due in part to the fact that this book does not relate Rhodesians to international influences or to the black population. I would liked to have seen a more classical argument and counter-argument to Rhodesia's problems.

Nonetheless, those who read this book will be greatly surprised to see how moderately the authors portray Rhodesia's Prime Minister. Even though 'Old Smithy' is not shown favorably, he wasn't the extremist as he is so often labelled. That role was played by other segments of Rhodesia's political spectrum.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has read Peter Godwin's "Mukiwa" or would like to learn more about the politics of southern Africa. This book was well worth the wait.

changing times
As with any book that Peter Godwin writes or is involved with, this publication is of excellent standard. Once again the picture of a declining country is projected and a way of life comes to an end especially for the white colonial population. Informative but sad is how i would sum up this book.