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Andrew Meldrum
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Where We Have Hope: A Memoir of Zimbabwe Kindle Edition

by Andrew Meldrum (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 out of 5 stars 23 ratings
A journalist’s harrowing account of life in Zimbabwe—and the human rights atrocities perpetuated—under President Robert Mugabe’s despotic rule.
 
Where We Have Hope is the gripping memoir of a young American journalist. In 1980, Andrew Meldrum arrived in a Zimbabwe flush with new independence, and he fell in love with the country and its optimism. But over the twenty years he lived there, Meldrum watched as President Robert Mugabe consolidated power and the government evolved into despotism. In May 2003, Meldrum, the last foreign journalist still working in the dangerous and chaotic nation, was illegally forced to leave his adopted home.
 
Meldrum’s unflinching work describes the terror and intimidation Mugabe’s government exercised on both the press and citizens, and the resiliency of Zimbabweans determined to overturn Mugabe and demand the free society they were promised.
 
“[A] remarkable odyssey . . . A compelling and, ultimately, heartbreaking story that demands to be read by anyone concerned about contemporary Africa.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
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  1. Print length
    325 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Grove Press
  4. Publication date
    December 1, 2007
  5. File size
    5.2 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Journalist Meldrum was in Rhodesia to cover its 1980 decolonization for the Guardian and stayed on to watch the country's agonizing transformation into a horrific kleptocracy. The book opens with Meldrum's 2003 expulsion from the country that had become Zimbabwe; he'd butted heads with Mugabe's regime for 20-plus years, during which time he wrote a spate of articles exposing various facets of the president's murderous, corrupt regime. In this defiant, courageous memoir, Meldrum, an American, also details black aggression against the bigoted white minority, who treat the nation's "ordinary Zimbabweans" disgracefully. He examines Mugabe's ghastly massacres and all-too-familiar tactics of targeting gays, intellectuals, political foes and the press. He witnesses food riots, fuel shortages, poverty, inflation (at 350% and rising) as well as a family friend's son's death from AIDS —and simply yet powerfully shows how these issues affected everyday people's lives. Despite all he has seen, Meldrum remains hopeful, and this frank account is the better for it. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Where We Have Hope is the gripping memoir of a young American journalist. In 1980, Andrew Meldrum arrived in a Zimbabwe flush with new independence, and he fell in love with the country and its optimism. But over the twenty years he lived there, Meldrum watched as President Robert Mugabe consolidated power and the government evolved into despotism. In May 2003, Meldrum, the last foreign journalist still working in the dangerous and chaotic nation, was illegally forced to leave his adopted home. His unflinching work describes the terror and intimidation Mugabe’s government exercised on both the press and citizens, and the resiliency of Zimbabweans determined to overturn Mugabe and demand the free society they were promised.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004I6DCZM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grove Press (December 1, 2007)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 1, 2007
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5.2 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 325 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars 23 ratings

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Andrew Meldrum

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
23 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Mary Ellen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great educational read, although difficult, important to be informed and witness the oppression.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Andrew Meldrum is a man of amazing courage, as evidenced by his determined pursuit of truth while surrounded by real dangers. The stories of his hopeful coverage of the nascent democracy born out of the Rhodesian War and then the rapid decline of freedoms, reports of massacre, torture and oppression over the succeeding years, until he was deported, are gripping. The people of Zimbabwe are so courageous. Their unfailing hope for fair elections is inspiring, and should make us appreciate our freedoms and voting privileges. This story makes you appreciate the value and importance of the free press, and the brave journalists who make it possible.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Ron S.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reporting on the Decline of an African Beacon
    Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2013
    In 1992, while visiting my brother in Botswana, we popped across the border to Zimbabwe for a couple of days. I recently re-read my journal from that trip. It covered what you would expect from an American in Africa: an encounter with a cackle of hyenas in our camp, elephant sightings at dusk, and the exchange rate which made our food and lodgings ultra cheap.

    Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's leader, had already become despotic, though most of the world didn't realize it. He had sent soldiers into the region we visited to terrorize his opposition with torture and murder. Like a typical American, I knew none of this.

    Meldrum tells the real story from a newspaper reporter's perspective, starting with the heady first days of independence until the government kicked him out of the country more than twenty years later. Where We Have Hope is no literary masterpiece, but it is a fast-paced, readable accounting of how the power-obsessed Mugabe and his minions turned a promising democratic beacon into one of the worst examples of megalomania in Africa.

    We in the West should be aware of what occurs in countries such as Zimbabwe by reading accounts like Meldrum's. We also should be aware of contrasting examples in the same region, such as Botswana and Zambia, which prove that Zimbabwe does have reason to hope.
    One person found this helpful
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  • DL
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book increasing awareness of Zimbabwe
    Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2009
    Andrew Meldrum writes a memoir that I feel privileged to read. He is a courageous person for his work to advance freedom in Zimbabwe. To learn of circumstances in other countries, especially in Africa, I often turn to memoirs by journalists living in the countries or assigned there for a period of time. Because of their own inquisitiveness, when I read I gain information that gives me a sense for reality at the human level while also educating me about the country. Reading a journalist's book becomes compelling. because of their talent and skill in writing, the remembrances of detail, the writing of true story. Andrew Meldrum writes with talent and skill, attention to detail about Zimbabwe. He did not let me down, and surpassed all expectations. When reading this writing, I now know things I can not forget, and it changes one as a person and what they stand for. Thank you Andrew. May freedom come to your family and friends in Zimbabwe.
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  • Kevin M Quigg
    4.0 out of 5 stars The disasterous regime of Robert Mugabe.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2013
    Much like Mobutu, Robert Mugabe has taken a treasure of a nation and turned it into his own kleptocracy. Mugabe took a nation with a great agricultural base, and turned it into a nation importing food. He has disillusioned many with his corrupt and bizarre rule. He was not the leader for this nation, and Joshua Nkomo should have been the first president.

    Meldrum illustrates the decline of the ZANU-PF regime and its increasingly corrupt ways. What he does praise are the Zimbabwe people putting up with this corrupt regime. People pay the taxes even though they go into the pockets of the corrupt ZANU-PF party leaders. The author shows the terrorist nature of this regime, which kills those who oppose it. This is really just a petty corrupt dictatorship in a landlocked African country.

    Hopefully when Mugabe dies, the people of this nation will rise up and make the ZANU-PF disappear as it should. The people of this nation deserve better than Robert Mugabe and his corrupt ZANU-PF.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Ferro
    3.0 out of 5 stars Naive foreigner gradually acquires disillusionment.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    An idealistic American arrives in Zimbabwe just after independence, filled with ideological zeal.Somewhat predictably he ends up betrayed and expelled by the Mugabe regime he initially idolized.

    The author provides a fascinating account of the main events, movers and players in Zimbabwe over two decades. He follows the destruction of a formerly prosperous nation.

    He does, however, discount the opinions of the resident whites as redneck simpletons, for which he reserves a pathological disdain. He caricatures them briefly as one-dimensional racists and avoids them thereafter. This is surprising for an otherwise balanced journalist. I understand their entrenched opinions would have appeared shocking to an outsider, but he dismisses out of hand the experiences of a whole people- who had lived in the country for generations- simply because they are white.

    It is unforgivable to portray the Rhodesian security forces as careless and inept. In reality they were an undefeated fighting force of extreme professionalism. The white population lost many of their number, over many years of commitment to fighting for their future. The struggle for the country was lost politically, certainly not militarily.

    He should have paid more attention. It is precisely the opinions of those "bitter Rhodesians" that have (sadly) proven correct over the years.
    5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Ronno
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Very well written book
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