Zimbabwe, By Philip Barclay, Bloomsbury, £17.99
Philip Barclay is a British diplomat, who lived and worked in Zimbabwe from 2006 to 2009. Given the discretion that diplomats operate with, you could be forgiven for expecting a book that hides its motives but nothing could be further from the truth. Barclay’s enthusiasm and optimism are sometimes in danger of colouring the text, but he shows restraint at the right junctures.
In today's Irish Times Magazine,veteran editor Harold Evans warns against journalists creating a "seamless narrative" where none exists. Barclay's seamless narrative takes shape in the run-up to the 2008 elections; it is not long before the threads start to tear apart. If Barclay is wholehearted in his support for those who voted against the Zanu-PF party, and fulsome in his praise for those conducting the election at local level, he is also unflinching when it comes to the violence Zimbabweans inflict upon each other.
This is very much a political history of a country that focuses on the minute details of a three-year period. For every theme or set-piece that seems expected there is a moment of surprise. When Barclay arrives in the country for the first time, he is amazed to find rows of tidy brick houses and schoolchildren in neatly pressed uniforms – these are not the elite but the ordinary people of Zimbabwe.
It deftly shows how low Mugabe has dragged the country. But there is a glimmer of hope that Morgan Tsvangirai can pull the country out of the abyss. This is compelling, brave, fascinating copy and deserves to be read.