Big men, little people - Alec Russell

A vividly written portrait of a continent and the big men who have shaped it.For five years Alex Russell was the Telegraph's man in Africa. In this witty, informative and highly intelligent book, he looks at Africa through his encounters with its Big Men. Each one represents a theme which has shaped Africa: Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, the 'King of Kleptocracy' whose staggering corruption crippled Zaire, Jonas Savimbi, the life-long guerrilla and symbol of the Cold War's destructive legacy on the continent, the quixotic Hastings Banda, the ultimate product of colonialism, and of course Nelson Mandela, symbol of reconciliation and hope for an entire continent.This edition also includes an entirely new chapter on Robert Gabriel Mugabe whose Presidency of Zimbabwe looks as though it is coming to a bitter and brutal end. "Like travelling across Africa with a convivial companion, good-humoured, well-informed, and full of insights." Michael Holman, Financial Times"A brilliant and persuasively hopeful portrait of Africa today, brightly coloured by startling t;ales of personal experience." Bill Deedes"This is a compelling book - intensely readable as well as being filled with the kind of shrewd analysis that we have come to expect from this exceptional foreign correspondent." Fergal Keane