Many different perspectives of Africa are captured in Richard Dowden’s remarkable book Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles. Dowden first arrived in Africa in 1971, when he moved to Uganda as a school teacher, near the start of Idi Amin’s reign. Uganda was just descending into the chaos and civil war which was to last for 15 years, and by the end of 1972 it was no longer safe for Dowden to remain. When he returned to Africa some years later, it was in a new role as a journalist.
The book discusses a broad range of Africa’s “Big Men” who have treated their countries as a vehicle for personal enrichment on a massive scale, including Mobutu Sese Seko, who was Zaire’s dictator for more than 30 years, Daniel arap Moi, who was Kenya’s president for 24 years, Robert Mugabe, who has presided over Zimbabwe’s economic decline over the past 20 years, and Nigeria’s Sani Abacha and Olusegun Obasanjo, whose administrations have set new standards for absolute corruption.
The book covers the differing issues faced by numerous different African countries including Sudan, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, Angola, Burundi and Rwanda. Dowden’s writing shows a deep understanding of African attitudes to AIDS, the causes of poverty, reasons for failure of foreign aid, the opportunities and pitfalls of African engagement with China, and a host of other issues. This is perhaps the best book on Africa I have ever read.