The Assassination of Herbert Chitepo FROM THE PUBLISHER
On March 18, 1975, Herbert Chitepo, an African nationalist in exile and chairman of the war council that struggled to liberate Zimbabwe from white-ruled Rhodesia, was killed by a car bomb. Since then, there have been four confessions and at least as many accusations about who was responsible. In The Assassination of Herbert Chitepo, Luise White does not set out to resolve questions about who was accountable for this horrible murder. Instead, in a style that is as much murder mystery as it is history writing, she uncovers what is at stake in the various confessions and why Chitepo's assassination continues to incite conflict and controversy in Zimbabwe's national politics. White casts doubt on official accounts of the murder and addresses how and for whom history is written and how myths and ideas about civic culture were founded in war-torn Zimbabwe. Although the truth about the assassination of Herbert Chitepo may never be known, readers will discover how one man's murder continues to unsettle Zimbabwe.
FROM THE CRITICS
Foreign Affairs
This intriguing book reopens the unsolved murder of Herbert Chitepo, an early hero of the Zimbabwean nationalist struggle. Its aim is not to apportion blame but to discuss why the documentary evidence surrounding the case — which includes testimony by at least three self-confessed killers and accusations implicating numerous others — is so contradictory. White, an accomplished historian, offers subtle and plausible explanations of how and why each of these texts (including a report of a Zambian government inquest and several books and memoirs) was initially produced. She shows that each must be read in the context of power struggles within the former Rhodesia and the interests of neighboring states in the outcome of these struggles. Interesting but speculative is her claim that today there is significant public discussion of these texts, which is helping to construct a "founding myth" of the Zimbabwean nation.
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