by Marion Kaplan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 1982
Starting with her 1962-64 ""pigtail safari""--an impromptu ramble from the Cape to Khartoum, from the Congo to Morocco-English photojournalist Kaplan is the ""uncomitted observer"" of her aspirations: neither jaundiced nor romantic, but cleareyed, brisk, and candid. Her coverage thereafter--reflecting assignments, and accompanied by spanking photos--takes in many of the major news stories of post--independence Africa. Chapters range from the mercenary ravages of the Congo in the Sixties to today's continuing battles, supported by the superpowers, over the Horn of Africa; from Rhodesia's unilateral declaration of independence to Zimbabwe's independence ceremonies 15 years later; from Halle Selassie's eminence among the ex-colonials to the anonymity of his Marxist successors. Kaplan, to her credit, distingiushes between the murderous authoritarian regimes of Idi Amin and Bokassa, and the strongman regimes--of Tanzania's Julius Nyere, Zambia's Kenneth Kaunda, Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta--dedicated to national survival and integrity. She makes effective use of personality closeups to illustrate political and social complexities: the defensive intransigence of South African whites; the divided, often ill-prepared nationalist takeovers in black states; the tensions between tribal stability and cosmopolitan development. Never far from the center of her concerns are the victims of political upheaval, economic change, and natural disaster--for whom there are no Schweitzers, no white saviors. The coverage, though broad and diverse, is not comprehensive: indeed, locales and situations of paramount British interest constitute the ""focus."" But both students and the plain-inquisitive will find the book personable and informing--a welcome change, too, from such sour appraisals as Shiva Naipaul's Journey to Nowhere.
Pub Date: Aug. 13, 1982
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: N/A
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1982
Categories: NONFICTION
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