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13/03/2008 11:52 AM - (SA) Martin writes historical books that read like fiction 140308
He loves South Africa, is crazy about the people, the Karoo, the Eastern Free State, the most northern parts of the country and the winelands where we conduct the interview. The famous South African writer, Wilbur Smith, says Martin's latest book is "Full-blooded history, red in tooth and claw - the story covers not only the exploration of the Dark Continent, but also the diamond and gold rushes, the two Boer wars and the famous defeats at the hands of the Zulus - it reads like fiction.? Youthful ambition
For 15 years, based in Lusaka, Nairobi and Salisbury (Harare) and writing principally for the London Observer and the London Sunday Times, he covered events in a score of African countries: the independence era in Zambia; turmoil in the Congo; the eccentric rule of Hastings Banda in Malawi; civil war in Nigeria; Idi Amin's brutal regime in Uganda; revolution in Ethiopia; socialist zeal in Tanzania; the Yom Kippur war; the collapse of Portuguese rule in Mozambique and Angola; murder and corruption in Kenya; and Rhodesia?s final years. "As a student I went on a sailing trip in the Baltic on a 35 foot yacht. It was a tremendous adventure and I wrote about it. I enjoyed the business of writing and when I sent it off to a yachting magazine and they published it and paid me, I realised I want to do this for a living. A foreign correspondent does exactly that, they are in search for adventure, write about it and somebody pays for it." He says although he worked as a journalist for many years, he always had the ambition to write and research longer pieces with a much longer deadline. "But later in life, I turned to writing books on contemporary history, which is an extension of journalism. The tools that journalism use, are very useful to me." He also wrote about his own journeys: across the Congo by river-boat; through the Okavango swamps by dug-out canoe; into the Maluti mountains on horseback. His account of Rhodesia's fateful UDI years, The Past Is Another Country, was published in 1980. In 1982 he was elected to the Alistair Horne Fellowship at St. Antony's College, Oxford. His study of Black Africa in the post-war era, The First Dance of Freedom, appeared in 1984, followed by an account of South Africa in the post-war era, In The Name of Apartheid, in 1988. In 1989, he participated in the Ivory Trade Review Group, a specialist organisation set up to advise governments and international organisations on the impact of the ivory trade on Africa's elephant populations, undertaking fieldwork in Zaire, Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. From 1991 to 1993, he co-ordinated a specialist team of economists recruited by the African Development Bank to advise governments in southern Africa on prospects for establishing an economic community in the post-apartheid era. A four-volume report appeared in 1993. His account of South Africa's 1994 election was published in 1994; his biography of Nelson Mandela appeared in 1997; and his study of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Coming To Terms, was published in 2000. He has also written a biography of the African elephant, Africa's Elephant, published in 2001 and his magisterial work, The State of Africa, was published to great acclaim in 2005. His biography of the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, was first published in February 2002, but Jonathan Ball Publishers have just released a revised and updated edition called Mugabe: Power, Plunder and Struggle for Zimbabwe. His latest book is historical facts, but also tells a story and he says it focuses on some of the most dramatic pieces of African history. ?But it is not aiming to be a complete history of the continent or the time. I never aspired to be an academic historian. I am much more interested in characters, as they provide a window on events," he says. He says he starts with a neutral approach to his characters. "What does the evidence say?" He says he does not feel the need to deliver praise or dismay at characters, he is interested in the flaws, faults, just as much as he is interested in the achievements of every character in his books. Why this latest book? "I think that a book on the making of South Africa - now on the eve of your 100th birthday of the founding of your independent country, it was necessary. It has not been done before and there is room for a book like this." How do you succeed in writing history books that read like fiction? "By tracking down contemporary descriptions, people who wrote about things in the present tense to bring the events to life." Something nobody knows about you? "I play the piano". Advice to other prospective writers? "Choose a subject that really interests you and tackle it in a pragmatic way. If you are daunted by the subject, then maybe it is not the right one to tackle. Write about things you know about, are interested about or feel strongly about." What is your reaction to statements by South Africans that we are going down the same road as Zimbabwe? "That is utter nonsense. It is understandable that there is a sudden plunge in confidence in South Africa?s future, but this is a modern, industrial country with a robust constitution and strong institutions. The problems that affect Africa, are its leaders. People have lost their confidence in the ANC due to incompetence and corruption, but there is no comparison to Zimbabwe, whatsoever. And I think the fears about the future of your country is a bit exaggerated." Diamonds, Gold and War: The Making of South Africa is published by Jonathan Ball Publishers and sells at R185. One DistrictMail reader can win a copy of the book, Diamonds, Gold and War: The Making of South Africa by Martin Meredith and also a copy of Mugabe: Power, Plunder and Struggle for Zimbabwe. Send your name, address and phone number during office hours to Meredith Giveaway, PO Box 58, Somerset West, 7129 be-fore March 30.
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