A former guerrilla leader who headed the resistance movement against white minority rule, Robert Mugabe was swept to power in Zimbabwe in 1980 on a tide of national euphoria with promises of peace, prosperity, and racial harmony. He then proceeded to preside over the economic and political ruination of the country that he himself had once described as the “Jewel of Africa.” In his desperate attempt to create and perpetuate a one-party state over the past quarter century, he has thwarted the democratic process, used torture against his own people, and deliberately obstructed aid organizations when they offered assistance to the persecuted and starving. This expansive study examines the private life and political reign of this ruthless dictator and unveils new details about Mugabe’s life prior to 1980. Illustrated with a number of photos secretly smuggled out of the country, this unique look at Mugabe explains the ethos and the methods behind Africa’s unshakeable iron fist.

A former guerrilla leader who headed the resistance movement against white minority rule, Robert Mugabe was swept to power in Zimbabwe in 1980 on a tide of national euphoria with promises of peace, prosperity, and racial harmony. He then proceeded to preside over the economic and political ruination of the country that he himself had once described as the “Jewel of Africa.” In his desperate attempt to create and perpetuate a one-party state over the past quarter century, he has thwarted the democratic process, used torture against his own people, and deliberately obstructed aid organizations when they offered assistance to the persecuted and starving. This expansive study examines the private life and political reign of this ruthless dictator and unveils new details about Mugabe’s life prior to 1980. Illustrated with a number of photos secretly smuggled out of the country, this unique look at Mugabe explains the ethos and the methods behind Africa’s unshakeable iron fist.