Zimbabwe

[Revmind84]

Anybody know of any good books on the history of the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe and/or the years that followed (i.e the ZAPU/ZANU power struggle)?

[Sir Comradical]

I asked Michael Parenti this question and he recommended 'Strange Liberators' by Gregory Illich.

[Chimurenga.]

This looks great. (http://www.cpgb-ml.org/index.php?secName=books&subName=display&bookId=5) I haven't read it though.

Aside from books, I'd recommend the articles (and interviews) of Stephen Gowans (http://gowans.wordpress.com/category/zimbabwe/), Gregory Elich (http://www.google.com/search?q=Gregory+Elich+Zimbabwe&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a), and Obi Egbuna (http://www.google.com/search?q=Obi+Egbuna+Zimbabwe&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a).

[Return to the Source]

Everything @proletarianrevolution suggested are valuable resources that you should consult in studying Zimbabwe.

If I can add another title, Eliakim Subanda's The Zimbabwe African People's Union, 1961-87: A Political History Of Insurgency In Southern Rhodesia (http://www.amazon.com/Zimbabwe-African-Peoples-Union-1961-87/dp/159221276X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305053827&sr=1-2) is a really thorough examination of ZAPU's development from its founding in 1964 to its merger with ZANU to form ZANU-PF in 1989. It gives you a really good understanding of the conflict and the day-to-day organizing of both groups, with an obvious focus on ZAPU.

Zimbabwe's drastically understudied. I recently blogged about it and included a bit about the Second Chimurenga here (http://return2source.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/new-democracy-zanu-pf-zimbabwes-revolutionary-path/).

Also make sure to check out Mahmood Mamdani's article, "Lessons of Zimbabwe (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n23/mahmood-mamdani/lessons-of-zimbabwe)" in the London Review of Books for the most thorough, single-article account of modern Zimbabwe I've yet encountered.