The Boy Soldier: The story of the Rise and Fall of "God's own country"

Southern Rhodesia was once a country of sublime hope. White settlers had much justification for their intense pride in the modern and progressive nation they had built in the heart of the wild African bush. But in doing this they marginalised the indigenous black people away from the economic mainstream using them mostly as an endless supply of unskilled labour. A lack of meaningful dialogue between the two races led to negative perceptions on both sides and to a nation divided along racial lines. This created resentment among Blacks resulting in a protracted struggle to free themselves from white domination. A bitter, seven year civil war followed, ending in 1979 with a black government coming to power in 1980. This signalled the end of the great Rhodesian experiment�.
‘The Boy Soldier’ is both a beguiling and at times a chilling account of the experiences of an English émigré who grew to love Rhodesia and its amalgam of people and also of his stepson, Charles Norris born a white African and who fought in the civil war. Their stories capture the essence of what life was once like for white settlers in an African colony with a sense of freedom and of adventure quite unknown to those living in more developed countries. There is also a wealth of information woven into their stories about Rhodesia, its history, its politics, its violent transition into the State of Zimbabwe and its final decline into oblivion due to the self-delusional megalomania of one man, Robert Mugabe. The author also questions if there are lessons to be learnt by South Africa from the decline of Zimbabwe�.