Overview

A vivid, heartbreaking portrait of the fate that so many African countries suffered after independence. The dictator who grew so rich on his country's cocoa crop that he built a 35-storey-high basilica in the jungles of the Ivory Coast. The austere, incorruptible leader who has shut Eritrea off from the world in a permanent state of war and conscripted every adult into the armed forces. In Equatorial Guinea, the paranoid despot who thought Hitler was the saviour of Africa and waged a relentless campaign of terror against his own people. The Libyan army officer who authored a new work of political philosophy, The Green Book , and lived in a tent with a harem of female soldiers, running his country like a mafia family business. And behind these almost incredible stories of fantastic violence and excess lie the dark secrets of Western greed and complicity, the insatiable taste for chocolate, oil, diamonds and gold that have encouraged dictators to rule with an iron hand, siphoning off their share of the action into mansions in Paris and banks in Zurich and keeping their people in dire poverty.

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9781784972134

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Reviews

'Kenyon's stories of corruption and excess are truly compelling, while his analysis of the West's motivations is astute and illuminating' Culture Trip. 'It is [the] minute observations that make Mr Kenyon's book so hard to put down' Economist. 'Well written and sensibly structured ... Some of the most revealing passages are based on interviews with retired expatriate executives and diplomats who were witness to the excesses of the early post-colonial years' The Sunday Times. 'Highly readable ... A chapter on the rise of Felix Houphouet-Boigny is especially vivid' The Times. 'The breathtaking account of how a handful of men were handed a continent of rich lands and poor people. How they became tyrants overnight and turned their countries into cruel kleptocracies. How they ransacked their treasuries to make billion-pound fortunes, and lived in unimaginable luxury while their people often starved. Paul Kenyon is a brilliant writer who's been there and tells a story of unparalleled greed and western complicity in vivid detail. It's Africa's ruin, but our story too' Michael Buerk.

'The breathtaking account of how a handful of men were handed a continent of rich lands and poor people. How they became tyrants overnight and turned their countries into cruel kleptocracies. How they ransacked their treasuries to make billion-pound fortunes, and lived in unimaginable luxury while their people often starved. Paul Kenyon is a brilliant writer who's been there and tells a story of unparalleled greed and western complicity in vivid detail. It's Africa's ruin, but our story too' Michael Buerk.

'The stories it tells of dictators such as Robert Mugabe and Muammer Gaddafi are grimly fascinating and leave the reader to ponder why so many of Africa's liberation heroes turned into villains' * Financial Times, Books of the Year * 'A humane, timely, accessible and well-researched book that shines a light on urgent African issues [...] that, when we consider the state of our own societies, can no longer be dismissed as merely somewhere else's problem' * Irish Times * 'Paul Kenyon is a brilliant writer who's been there and tells a story of unparalleled greed and western complicity in vivid detail' -- Michael Buerk 'It is [the] minute observations that make Mr Kenyon's book so hard to put down' * Economist * 'Mr Kenyon narrates a jaw-dropping tale of greed, corruption and brutality' * Daily Express * Well written and sensibly structured... Some of the most revealing passages are based on interviews with retired expatriate executives and diplomats who were witness to the excesses of the early post-colonial years' * Sunday Times * 'Kenyon's stories of corruption and excess are truly compelling, while his analysis of the West's motivations is astute and illuminating' * Culture Trip * A heart-breaking and stomach-churning history but also an utterly absorbing one... Kenyon blends in gripping, authenticating first-hand testimonies from those who were behind the carnage and corruption... This book shines a vital light on how Africa was robbed in broad daylight ' * UAE National * Highly readable... A chapter on the rise of Felix Houphouet-Boigny is especially vivid' * The Times * 'A familiar story, but still shocking' * Sunday Times *

PRAISE FOR I AM JUSTICE: 'A beautiful book ... It is a powerful story and told in clear and unpretentious prose. A book for our times' Fergal Keane. 'An enchanting book, rich with the vibrancy and tragedy of Africa ... Kenyon has woven a magic in this book' Daily Telegraph. 'His understanding of and empathy with the characters in this extraordinary book is hugely impressive' John Simpson.

'A jaw-dropping tale of greed, corruption and brutality' Daily Express. 'Kenyon's stories of corruption and excess are truly compelling, while his analysis of the West's motivations is astute and illuminating' Culture Trip. 'It is [the] minute observations that make Mr Kenyon's book so hard to put down' Economist. 'Well written and sensibly structured ... Some of the most revealing passages are based on interviews with retired expatriate executives and diplomats who were witness to the excesses of the early post-colonial years' The Sunday Times. 'Highly readable ... A chapter on the rise of Felix Houphouet-Boigny is especially vivid' The Times. 'The breathtaking account of how a handful of men were handed a continent of rich lands and poor people. How they became tyrants overnight and turned their countries into cruel kleptocracies. How they ransacked their treasuries to make billion-pound fortunes, and lived in unimaginable luxury while their people often starved. Paul Kenyon is a brilliant writer who's been there and tells a story of unparalleled greed and western complicity in vivid detail. It's Africa's ruin, but our story too' Michael Buerk.

Author Information

Paul Kenyon has travelled in almost every African country in the footsteps of the dictators. He is a distinguished BBC correspondent and BAFTA award-winning journalist and author.

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