Robert Mugabe

For this definitive biography of Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Percy Zvomuya allowed the dust to settle after his subject's fall from power and his death two years later in 2019. By doing so, he has gone far beyond the easy stereotype of the African nationalist who went from liberator to dictator, to create a complex portrait of a man who was always the outsider as a young man, as a leader of a revolutionary movement and as president of Zimbabwe. With infinite patience, Zvomuya spent over a decade tracing the life of a man almost synonymous with his country – first Rhodesia, then Zimbabwe. The curious figure of the black Victorian emerges as Mugabe's fascinating contradictions are exposed. The author is highly critical of Mugabe and how he oversaw the devastating decline of Zimbabwe, but the reader will come away with a far richer and more nuanced understanding of the country and its people. Writing with an unparalleled grace and verve, Zvomuya has created a beautifully crafted and intimate portrait which is suffused with a deep social understanding of Mugabe and his times.