When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa

Peter Godwin

Godwin grew up in Zimbabwe (once Rhodesia) which is now best known for the horrible dismemberment of a once great nation under the rule of Robert Mugabe, who has destroyed productivity and created inflation the likes of which has not been seen since the hyperinflation in Germany in the late 1920’s.

I loved this book! It combined a fascinating study or insight into modern Africa to which I had never been exposed; with a very personal memoir of what it was like to grow up there and then discover a “shocking secret” about his father and his father’s background.

Godwin is an excellent writer and he had great material with which to work. Having read this book I can now understand the wisdom of the following statement: “It is sometimes said that the worst thing to happen to Africa was the arrival of the white man. And the second worst thing was his departure.”

I never understood the indigenous culture, mostly tribal and why it was appropriate to Africa. Because Africa did not have any native animals that were capable of being domesticated, large scale farming never evolved. As a result, there was no agricultural surplus, and this in turn meant there were never any cities.

Furthermore, because of so much disease from insects and other causes, it was necessary for an African wife to bear 10 or more children to enable 2 or 3 to survive. These and other factors (which were certainly unknown to me) allowed Colonialism to flourish and destroy native cultures and traditions. When the Colonists left there remained a void because durable institutions and a cultural metamorphosis had not been achieved.

While all of the above may sound like this book was a historical or sociological tome, dull and plodding, nothing could be further from the truth. The book attracts and enthralls like a novel. The characters are multi-faceted and fascinating. The writing is topnotch. This is a story that had to be told and in the telling much is revealed about the individuals and the broad society.

I rate this book a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 and a “must read”. It is fun to read, entertaining and very informative. It deserves to be a best-seller.

Review by Len Oppenheim