Review: Zimbabwe is dying. Robert Mugabe who began his presidency by helping to stimulate the economy and providing a foundation for rapid growth now cripples his country. White farmers are driven off their prosperous farms and into exile or hiding while Mugabe uses them as scapegoats to cover his own failings. War veterans set up camp on properties, harassing, beating and occasionally killing blacks and whites alike. Caught in the middle of this crisis, Peter Godwin illustrates the tragic downfall of his homeland.

His successful career in journalism has moved him from Zimbabwe to London and then, finally, New York. He transits between the two in order to keep an eye on his aging parents who continue to live in the country they call home. Each time he touches down in Harare airport his situation becomes increasingly tenuous and desperate. Read the rest of this entry »

Review: Inside the country of India is a place called The Darkness. Here the people work in filthy conditions, live in sordid huts, and struggle for little. Rickshaw pullers wait by the road, emaciated and oppressed, waiting for the rich to buy their services. Corruption thrives like maggots in rotting flesh. Business men bribe police, landowners exact painful costs from their tenants, and teachers keep government funding for themselves. Balram, one of many poor children is one day labeled as a diamond in the rough. And, for the first time, he starts to dream of bigger things. Read the rest of this entry »