Zimbabwe (Major World Nations)

Gr 5-9-Solid introductions to two African countries. Both titles present basic facts on history, geography, politics, government, economy, natural resources, education, people, and culture. In each book, a "Facts at a Glance" section lists important statistics, key exports, major religions, etc.; "History at a Glance" offers a timeline of important events. Over three dozen mediocre-quality black-and-white photos illustrate each title. In addition, each one has a center section of about a dozen quality full-color photographs. Both titles suffer from dense text and the omission of some important information. For instance, the brutality of colonial rule and its aftereffects are not dealt with, and there is no mention of the heroic anti-colonial, anti-imperialist struggle waged by people of both countries. There is barely any mention that whites continue to own most of the fertile land in Zimbabwe, while millions of black families are crowded together in communal lands, a situation that has fueled recent violent protests. There is no mention that the economic, political, cultural, and ideological direction of these, and other African nations, is dictated and dependent upon the whims of Western powers and their surrogate institutions, such as the World Bank, IMF, etc. Despite these flaws, both titles would be useful for reports and general background information.-Gebregeorgis Yohannes, San Francisco Public Library, CA

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