Bring Me My Machine Gun: The Battle for the Soul of South Africa, from Mandela to Zuma

Award-winning journalist Alec Russell was in South Africa to witness the fall of apartheid and the remarkable reconciliation of Nelson Mandela's rule; and returned in 2007-2008 to see Mandela's successor, Thabo Mbeki, fritter away the country's reputation. South Africa is now perched on a precipice, as it prepares to elect Jacob Zuma as president -- signaling a potential slide back to the bad old days of post-colonial African leadership, and disaster for a country that was once the beacon of the continent.

Drawing on his long relationships with all the key senior figures including Mandela, Mbeki, Desmond Tutu, and Zuma, and a host of South Africans he has known over the years -- including former activists turned billionaires and reactionary Boers -- Alec Russell's Bring Me My Machine Gun is a beautifully told and expertly researched account of South Africa's great tragedy: the tragedy of hope unfulfilled.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 04/14/2009
ISBN: 9781586487386
Pages: 312
Weight: 1.50lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.30w x 1.20d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2009
Booklist 04/15/2009 pg. 18