Mugabe - My Part In His Victory

Mugabe - My Part In His Victory 

by

Chris Walmsley

Hi all. I have been rather busy (my last OU module)  and stressed, hence no contact. However, I did manage to read the above book recently and will give you my opinion.

Chris was an NSPO (National Service Patrol Officer), with the BSAP. It appears he was one of the first (give or take 400 odd) and at the age of 24 he is called up in January 1974. This was all very interesting, like, how the government decided that anyone with a degree would make cracking police officers regardless of the fact several appear to be either lumps of lard or - fanatically, rugby possessed psychos. (A theme that does become rather tedious - along with rowing.) So, as such, his regard for us more cerebrally questionable regulars as I would become, is well documented but can be taken tongue in cheek or perhaps a bayonet in author’s anal orifice - depending on what mood and intoxication you are in when you read this memoir.

Punctuation and grammar are of high standard but unfortunately, the clown who told him that inset paragraphs are a thing of the past and every one should be started double spaced down and in line; was spaced out on double rums. It is very annoying and does hamper the relatively easy flow of the narrative. (Please note that Facebook is just as backward and we are forced to also write the same dumbass way.)

Chris is a highly qualified economist (Rhodes University – oohhh), but not smart enough to realise getting a Kindle version of his book on Amazon for £1.99 might bring him in a few more sales. As an economist he writes economically and there is very little speech. When there is it is idiotically simply carried on into the above said not indented paragraphs.

Chris starts slow but eventually he is at the police academy of Morris Depot. Here we read what other writers have done before - bore us silly with how boys become men (lol) whilst throwing in some humour of questionable talent. But, we make an exception as he is not a creative writer - just an intelligent bean counter. He disguises the name of his squad’s various ‘torturers’ and describes them with enough variations of ‘ye olde cliches’ that even Charles Dickens would vomit in his grave.

Next bit is about his various postings and rugby games. It is…okay. BUT, it is after he leaves the police that he writes about what he should have done in the first place! He was very deeeep inside all the sanctions and foreign currency allocation stuff. Now that is very interesting. He knew about shenanigans that made writing on the wall immediately get censored… and as such, by mid1976 he was pulling finger to get the hell out of Rhodesia just as when ME, the future ‘The Gokwe Kid – Dick of the Bushveld’, arrived to rescue the country! (Book coming out soon.)

Historically - there are a couple of minor details I will ask the man about. He gives enough not to bore those that know and conversely enough so as not to bore those that haven’t a clue about Rhodesia. (His observations, whilst in Ireland as a student, are very interesting. Some of his fellow student’s view of his origins as a ‘racialist, land thieving, slave driving, coon flogging, white colonial bastard plantation owner’, are rather eye opening.

Finally –

Whilst the fact he plays with numbers and looks a bit of a wimp on the back cover photograph; Chris comes over as rather hardcore (unless he telling porkies), and I hazard a guess it took him some courage to write some of the more heart breaking stuff. So, all in all, I give 4 out of 5 stars.

Available here –

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mugabe-My-Part-His-Victory/dp/1908447648/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342702050&sr=1-1