BOOK OF THE MONTH
Degrees in Violence
by David Blair
Continuum (082646498X)
Reviewer: David Phillips — Operations/Customer Services Manager, Lindsay and Croft
This book is a systematic and chronological eyewitness account of the violence and turmoil experienced by the impoverished masses in Zimbabwe. David Blair, a distinguished journalist for the Daily Telegraph, describes the undemocratic and tortuous regime that Mugabe has inflicted on his people since coming to power in 1980.
Starting with two chapters of useful historical background covering Mugabe's first nineteen years in power, Blair uncovers the foundations of his motivation as a leader. He then walks the reader through each painful chapter of 'democratic development' from January 2000 to August 2002. It is obvious from the way the book is written that Blair is wholeheartedly against what Mugabe has done to Zimbabwe but his factual, descriptive writing interspersed with dramatic interviews with 'normal' Zimbabweans give the reader a real feel for the hardships endured by the citizens of this wonderful country.
In February 2000 Mugabe asked the people to vote in a referendum to change Zimbabwe's constitution. This was in a climate of fuel shortages and rising unemployment. Mugabe lost the vote and this kicked off a volley of politically motivated violence and repression. Over the next two years and through several elections, thousands of people were beaten and hundreds killed, all to keep Mugabe in power.
A poisonous thread running throughout the book is Mugabe's overwhelming goal of seizing the white owned farms and giving them back to the 'people'. In reality they were given only to Mugabe's political supporters. Also Mugabe's vilification of Britain and determination to blame the UK government for the economic woes Zimbabwe experiences is unstinting.
In a powerful conclusion David Blair draws the comparison between Ian Smith and Mugabe. It seems deeply ironic that whilst having very different ideals as leaders they employed very similar tactics to retain power.
This new edition in paperback adds a chapter on the 2002 elections. David Blair manages to get back into Zimbabwe to witness the now predictable violence by supporters of Mugabe. At this point Mugabe went to unbelievable lengths to ensure another term in office.
As I write there are 6 million people in Zimbabwe that are short of food, and although many countries have given food aid the only people receiving this are Mugabe's supporters.
As David Blair so eloquently points out in this book, the words uttered by Mugabe in 1998 still ring true today: 'I have many degrees in violence'.
