Geoff Nyarota was the editor of the Daily News, Zimbabwes only independent newspaper, for four years. In this time, he chronicled the decline of the country under Robert Mugabes Zanu-PF-controlled regime, and was subjected to extreme harassment by the state. As a young man, Nyarota fervently believed that his children would know the freedom of democracy that he himself had been denied under colonial rule. But after the war of liberation and Mugabes accession to power in 1980, Nyarota discovered that the returned war heroes were more interested in enriching themselves than in uplifting the people. Index, bib, col photos, 352pp, SOUTH AFRICA. ZEBRA PRESS.

Since Herbert Chitepo was murdered in 1975, four people have confessed to the assassination and countless other people have been accused. This new account looks at the reasons why his murder continues to stir up so much controversy and conflict in Zimbabwe and the social and political implications of this. Index, bib, notes, xiii, 139pp, USA. INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS.

New edition. An impassioned defence of a controversial career. Smith describes his upbringing, his active service as an RAF pilot, his appointment as prime minister of Rhodesia and the Unilateral Declaration of Independence that followed, with a detailed account of the political and military conflict up to the Lancaster House Agreement and beyond. B/w illus, maps, index, 442pp, UK. BLAKE PUBLISHING.

A slim but revealing volume of a SOAS academic's conversations with Zimbabwe's opposition political leader over four years. LIMITED SUPPLY. 106pp, SOUTH AFRICA. FINGERPRINT CO-OPERATIVE LTD.

Tells the story of Betty, who spent almost 40 years in Northern and Southern Rhodesia, from childhood, through to her time in Rhodesia (highlighting the Northern Rhodesia independence and the civil war in Southern Rhodesia), until her move to Europe in 1981. A fascinating snapshot of ordinary life in the latter days of white colonial Africa, seen through the eyes of a mature, practical women, once a wartime nurse in the Royal Navy.245pp, UK. STAMFORD HOUSE PUBLISHING

A richly textured memoir in which an ordinary troopie grapples with the unique dilemmas presented by an extraordinary period in history: the spectres of inner violence and death; the pressurised arrival of manhood; and the place of conscience, friendship and beauty in the pervasive atmosphere of futile warfare. 196pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF NATAL PRESS, 1869140052

An honestly recounted and lyrical autobiographical novel which recounts the author's life in Africa. Her narrative combines her family's story with the wars and changes of government which would mark their existence as white farmers in Southen Africa. B/w illus, 310 pp, UK. UK. PICADOR

Now in paperback. When Owen Sheers discovers a book in his father's study he stumbles upon the life of an obscure relative: Arthur Cripps, lyric poet and maverick missionary to Rhodesia. He dedicated his life to defending the interests of the Africans he lives with and comes into conflict with the neighbouring European community and British South Africa Company. This book weaves fiction, travel, biography and current events to tell the story of Cripp's African legacy from the turn of the twentieth century to its close. Gloss, map, 320pp, UK. FABER & FABER.

First biography of Zimbabwe's beleaguered opposition politician, tracing his trade union roots, his rise to the leadership of the Movement for Democratic Change and the Mugabe regime’s attempts to implicate him in a clumsy treason plot. Index, 159pp, SOUTH AFRICA. DOUBLE STOREY BOOKS.

New in paperback. A powerful and intensely human insight into the civil war in Zimbabwe, focusing on a white farmer and his maid who find themselves on opposing sides. By tracing the intertwining lives of the Nigel and Akwe - rich and poor, white and black, master and maid - Christina Lamb not only presents both sides of the Zimbabwean dilemma, but captures in achingly intimate terms her own uplifting conviction that, although savaged, there is still hope for one of Africa's most beautiful countries. Gloss, maps, b/w photos, 290pp, UK. HARPER PERENNIAL.

Long-awaited autobiography of the controversial Zimbabwean politician. Index, b/w illus, 179pp, ZIMBABWE. SAPES. LIMITED STOCK.

Lost in Africa is a colloquialism from the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI), meaning a state of bewilderment or cluelessness, which Stu Taylor uses to describe his disjointed life. Born in South Africa and raised in Southern Rhodesia to nomadic parents, Taylor’s early years were unsettled as he was shuffled from school to school during the 1950s. Describing himself as marginally above really thick, he signed on in 1967 with the RLI and served with that unit for thirteen years, always at the forefront of hostilities during the bitter Rhodesian bush war. B/w photos, 200pp, SOUTH AFRICA. 30' SOUTH.

A portrait of the author's grandmother and her struggle to build a life for her family in Zimbabwe between the World Wars. Illustrated with b/w photographs. 310pp, UK, WITCHINGHAM PRESS, 095459200X

Reissue. An autobiography set against the background of the bloody transition to black majority rule in Zimbabwe, evoking boyhood memories of a settler society collapsing into chaos. 418pp, UK. PICADOR.

Revised and updated. The autobiography of Stephen Lungu who rose above a shattered family background and life on the streets in Zimbabwe to become a respected preacher of the Gospel. Illustrated with b/w photographs. 253pp, UK. MONARCH BOOKS.

When Linda Caine left Zimbabwe with her baby son in the 1970s she hoped she had left her past behind. However, twenty years on she begins to suffer from debilitating flashbacks to events that she had deeply repressed. Written with her therapist Robin Royston, this book describes their journey to unravel the shocking secrets from her childhood that lie at the heart of her depression. Illustrated with b/w photographs. 446pp, UK. CORGI

Biography revealing the dreams and aspirations of a young Zimbabwean girl, as she grows up, goes to school, looks for her first job, has her first romance. This account provides an insight into the needs and aspirations of this young woman, who in turn is a mirror through which today's Zimbabwe can be viewed. 184pp, UK. BRAISWICK.

New in paperback. Honest memoir describes growing up on an African farm during the 'Rhodesian Bush War' and the twilight years of white colonialism in the 1970s. It also explores the shock yet euphoria of Zimbabwean independence in the 1980s as St John navigates her way through the immense personal and political changes. The abundance and beauty of Zimbabwe and its people as well as childhood innocence are contrasted with the insidiousness of racism, war and nationalist propaganda. 304pp, UK. PENGUIN BOOKS.

This retrospective offers a first hand account on internal conflicts in ZANU during the 1970s, which resulted in the defeat of its left wing. Chung's narratives include her experiences in two guerrilla camps. She recalls her encounters with the charismatic Josiah Tongogara, a legendary military commander during Zimbabwe's liberation war (known as the second chimurenga), who died at the threshold to Independence. The personal recollection of a transition to national sovereignty concludes with an incisive analysis of developments after Independence. It ends with Chung's vision for the Zimbabwe of the future. Index, 357pp, SWEDEN. NORDIC AFRICA INSTITUTE.

Now in paperback by the author of DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT. War leaves permanent scares on those who survive and live through conflict. When she mets K, a veteran of the all white Rhodesian Light Infantry Commando, the author embarks on a troubling journey through Zambia, Zimababwe and Mozambique and the lands that hold the scars of the war that they both lived through. As they venture deeper into the African bush, they encounter other veterans and as memories are refreshed, old wounds are reopened. Gloss, 256pp, UK. PICADOR.

Traces Muzenda’s life from the days of the Voice Association movement, NDP, Zapu and later Zanu. Bhebe argues that Muzenda was an astute organiser and a shrewd political operator. 308pp, ZIMBABWE. MAMBO PRESS.

2005 0869227807 Paperback

Judith Todd, the daughter of Sir Garfield Todd, erstwhile prime minister of colonial Southern Rhodesia, spent eight years in exile in Britain as an opponent of white minority rule in Ian Smith's Rhodesia. She returned to Zimbabwe shortly before independence in 1980, and soon realised that, far from being the solution to Zimbabwe's ills, Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu (PF) party were increasingly becoming the problem. As the country slid into economic and social decline, Todd had a front-row view from her position as director of a local development agency. Over the first 25 years of Mugabe's rule, she kept journals, notes and copies of letters and documents from which she has compiled an intensely personal account of life in Zimbabwe. Index, col & b/w photos, 460pp, SOUTH AFRICA. ZEBRA PRESS.

Now in paperback: the first volume of her autobiography: covers the first thirty years of this major writer and the development of her feminist ideas.. HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS.

The second volume of Lessing's much-praised autobiography covers her early life in war-torn London and the personal and political battles of the 1950s. 'Passionate and compelling'. Daily Telegraph. B/w illus, 369pp, UK. HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS.

New in paperback. Peter Godwin, an award-winning writer, is on assignment in Zululand when he is summoned by his mother to Zimbabwe, his birthplace. His father is seriously ill; she fears he is dying. Godwin finds his country, once a post-colonial success story, descending into a vortex of violence and racial hatred incited by an embattled dictator. His father recovers, but over the next few years, Godwin travels regularly between his family life in Manhattan and the increasing chaos of Zimbabwe, where inflation runs so fast that the currency can't keep up; where land seizures have made famine a real prospect; and where his parents, emigrants from post-war England, are refusing to abandon their home. It is against this backdrop that Godwin discovers a fifty-year-old family secret, one which changes everything he thought he knew about his father, and his own place in the world. 416pp, UK. PICADOR.

Now available in paperback. Journalist Andrew Meldrum arrived in Zimbabwe in 1980 lured by the excitement of independence. Over twenty years he reported from the country he grew to love and described its change from young, hopeful democracy to pariah state until he was expelled in May 2003. The author describes what it is like to live through this period of hope and tragedy and how he was harassed, arrested, imprisoned and tried for attempting to report on human rights issues and massacres. Meldrum also describes the courage, defiance and resilience of the people of Zimbabwe, telling the stories of the people he knew who refused to accept the abuses of Mugabe's rule. Illustrated with colour photographs. 272pp, UK. JOHN MURRAY.

2005 2004 0719566436 Paperback