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I started off thinking, "I like his other book, Something of Value, a lot better." That book began in the childhood of two men raised almost as brothers, so you're more gently introduced to colonial Africa before the story slides you into a more cynical Mau Mau situation. Uhuru, on the other hand, begins ten years after all the worst Mau Mau stuff, so you start off in the cynical mode, and you don't get that young golden ideal feeling when you first read about a time and place. Then this book seems to slide even further into a morass, and it gets a little hard to read, knowing that this is all based on truth, on real events. You start feeling awful about the nature of man. Beautiful writing, though. You could drop yourself in the middle of a Ruark book and marvel at whatever paragraph you happened to land upon. And in the end, you find redemption. Ruark has gone the other way -- starting with cynicism and ending with hope. It wrapped the book up really nicely for me, as well as it wrapped up that bit of history. Finished reading August, 13, 2007.
A wonderful read about the Mau-Mau uprisings in Kenya while the struggle against colonial landholders was taking place. This shows the points of view of both sides and describes, very graphically, the terrorist activities and brutal reprisals. This book will keep you interested. Another five star book that is related is Something of Value by the same author.
My dad handed me this book when I was a freshman in high school and told me to read it. I did. It was fascinating, terrifying, you name it. Great book.
It's an African colonial classic in my mind. Fiction but it may as well be a true story the way it is told has a very realistic feel to it. It is quite long and hard to get into initially but once you do it's hard to stop. If not for the initial dense-ness I would have rated it even higher.
Great fiction work around the time of Kenyan independence. Anyone interested in Kenyan history, or the time of Independence in any African countries would like this.
A quick read that speaks to everyone, regardless of your faith or views.
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