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Postmark Africa

Half a century as a foreign correspondent

Michael Holman

$44.99

Paperback

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English
EnvelopeBooks
01 June 2024
Fifty years of on-the-spot commentary on the hopes and disappointments of African post-colonialism.

The intelligence and passion that brought independence to colonial countries in Eastern and Southern Africa was greeted with enthusiasm by many progressive Whites. Michael Holman was one of them. A Rhodesian student activist whose support for black independence frightened his own minority white government, he was inspired by the black unionists and political leaders he interviewed, and whose message he took to Western readers, notably through the London Financial Times. But as the years passed, their early ideals became increasingly corrupted, internally and by what Holman still sees as the misguided policies of outside donors. Now brought together into a single volume, Holman's 50 years of reporting vividly conveys the hopes and disappointments of the post-colonial era.

AUTHOR: Michael Holman was brought up in small-town white Rhodesia, establishing his political credentials in Salisbury (now Harare) as a University of Rhodesia student leader opposing UDI in 1965. In August 1967 he was served with a government order confining him to his hometown for a year and was adopted by Amnesty as a Prisoner of Conscience. He later became a reporter and monitored human-rights violations by the Rhodesian authorities, eventually having to leave the country illegally after narrowly escaping arrest for refusing to accept military call-up. Basing himself in Lusaka, Zambia, he wrote on African affairs for the Financial Times, before moving to London to become the paper's Africa Editor. He took early retirement in 2002, following pioneering surgery for Parkinson's disease, but continues to visit his old beat whenever possible. In addition to Postmark Africa, he has written three satirical novels set in the imaginary East African nation of Kuwisha.

By:  
Imprint:   EnvelopeBooks
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Edition:   Revised edition
Dimensions:   Height: 203mm,  Width: 127mm, 
ISBN:   9781838172060
ISBN 10:   1838172068
Pages:   276
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Unspecified

Michael Holman was brought up in small-town white Rhodesia, establishing his political credentials in Salisbury (now Harare) as a University of Rhodesia student leader opposing UDI in 1965. In August 1967 he was served with a government order confining him to his home town (Gwelo, now Gweru) and was named a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty. Allowed to leave after a year, he completed an MSc at the University of Edinburgh, before returning to Zimbabwe to work as a journalist. He narrowly escaped arrest after refusing to accept military call-up and after three weeks in hiding, left the country illegally. He soon returned to Africa, basing himself in Lusaka, Zambia and writing as the Financial Times's Africa correspondent. After moving to London he became the paper's Africa Editor, taking early retirement in 2002 following pioneering surgery for Parkinson's Disease, but continues to visit his old beat regularly. In addition to an earlier collection of reports (African Deadlines), he has written three satirical novels set in the imaginary East-African nation of Kuwisha: Last Orders at Harrods, Fatboy and the Dancing Ladies, and Dizzy Worms.

Reviews for Postmark Africa: Half a century as a foreign correspondent

"Alexander McCall Smith: ""If you want to see what a good man in Africa has done, read this book. It contains profound observations of real and lasting significance on virtually every page ...""; Malcolm Rifkind: ""This book should be read by anyone who not only wants to know the history of central and southern Africa but to understand its people, black and white. They are a fine people and in Michael they have had an honest, articulate and worthy champion, as rigorous, objective and professional in this book as he was in his journalism as Africa Correspondent for the Financial Times. He has an energy and an eloquence in recording not just what he knows or has analysed but also what he feels to be the reality of his homeland's tragic experience both under white, colonial domination and the black-led governments that followed ...""; Ed Balls: ""Africa has no fiercer critic and no greater advocate than Michael Holman. Passionate, sometimes angry but also caring and often hilarious, Michael Holman once again delivers his trademark combination of beautiful prose and compelling story-telling. This book is both a delight and a tragic tale of hopes still unfulfilled ...""; John Githongo: ""Throughout his career as a journalist and author, Michael has been a rebel with a clear cause. He has a seamless capacity to get under the African skin, and a ruthless insight for sniffing out what's working, even though it may not look it, and what's an utter waste of time, even though no one else will admit. He has brought this insight and unapologetic attitude in his quest for the truth to everything he has ever done, on and for Africa. All of it is informed by a deep sense of empathy for the land of his upbringing, warts and all, and a biting sense of humour ..."""


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