The Great Betrayal: The Memoirs of Africa's Most Controversial Leader

Smith, the white prime minister of Rhodesia who engineered the country's unilateral independence from Britain in 1965 and led resistance to the black majority until Zimbabwe was born of post-civil war negotiations in 1979, has written an unrepentant, heavily detailed account of his leadership. He proceeds from the posture that the black majority, significantly rooted in traditional culture, should be ""gradually"" brought up to ""standards of Western civilization."" He condemns outside countries that ""arrogant[ly]"" applied sanctions against Rhodesia and associates black opposition more with communism than nationalism. He claims that ""our black people"" had the best education, health, housing, services, etc. in Africa, not acknowledging the gap between white and black Rhodesia. He refers to black ""terrorists"" while downplaying the cruelties of Rhodesia's armed forces. Yet Smith makes some points. He offers inside details of negotiation, including pressure from South Africa. His title refers to the hypocrisy of the British Commonwealth, which imposed sanctions on Rhodesia while many of its other members were one-party states. And he reminds us that Zimbabwe's black-run Mugabe government has steadily flouted democracy. Photos not seen by PW. (June)