Martin Meredith

Last updated

Martin Meredith
OccupationAuthor and commentator
GenreBiographies, History

Martin Meredith (born 1942) is a historian, journalist, and biographer. He has written several books on Africa and its modern history.

Contents

Life

Meredith first worked as a foreign correspondent in Africa for The Observer and Sunday Times , then as a research fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford. [1] Living near Oxford, he is now an independent commentator and author.

Meredith's writing has been described as authoritative and well-documented, despite the pessimism so often imposed upon his subject matter. [2]

Bibliography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thabo Mbeki</span> President of South Africa from 1999 to 2008

Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC). Before that, he was deputy president under Nelson Mandela from 1994 to 1999.

The Gukurahundi was a series of mass killings and genocide in Zimbabwe which were committed from 1983 until the Unity Accord in 1987. The name derives from a Shona language term which loosely translates to "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Smith</span> Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979

Ian Douglas Smith was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979. He was the country's first leader to be born and raised in Rhodesia, and led the predominantly white government that unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom in November 1965 in opposition to their demands for the implementation of majority rule as a condition for independence. His 15 years in power were defined by the country's international isolation and involvement in the Rhodesian Bush War, which pitted the Rhodesian Security Forces against the Soviet and Chinese-funded military wings of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZANU–PF</span> Ruling political party of Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years by Robert Mugabe, first as prime minister with the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and then as president from 1987 after the merger with the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and retaining the name ZANU–PF, until 2017, when he was removed as leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Nkomo</span> Zimbabwean politician (1917–1999)

Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1990 until his death in 1999. He founded and led the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) from 1961 until it merged in 1987 with Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) to form ZANU–PF after an internal military crackdown called Gukurahundi in western Zimbabwe, mostly on ethnic Ndebele ZAPU supporters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. R. Swart</span> First State President of South Africa (1894–1982)

Charles Robberts Swart, nicknamed "Blackie", was a South African politician who served as the last governor-general of the Union of South Africa from 1959 to 1961 and the first state president of the Republic of South Africa from 1961 to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Suzman</span> South African anti-apartheid activist and Member of the House of Assembly

Helen Suzman, OMSG, DBE was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician. She represented a series of liberal and centre-left opposition parties during her 36-year tenure in the whites-only, National Party-controlled House of Assembly of South Africa at the height of apartheid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bram Fischer</span> South African lawyer (1908–1975)

Abraham Louis Fischer was a South African Communist lawyer of Afrikaner descent with partial Anglo-African ancestry from his paternal grandmother, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti-apartheid figures, including Nelson Mandela, at the Rivonia Trial. Following the trial, he was himself put on trial accused of furthering communism. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and diagnosed with cancer while in prison. The South African Prisons Act was extended to include his brother's house in Bloemfontein where he died two months later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan Boesak</span> South African cleric and anti-apartheid activist (born 1946)

Allan Aubrey Boesak is a South African Dutch Reformed Church cleric, politician and anti-apartheid activist. He was sentenced to prison for fraud in 1999 but was subsequently granted an official pardon and reinstated as a cleric in late 2004.

The 5th Brigade is an infantry brigade of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). The 5th Brigade was created in 1981 from three former battalions of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA). It later incorporated over 3,000 ex-ZANLA guerrillas from various units. The brigade was based in Gweru and participated in the Mozambican Civil War as well as a genocide known as the Gukurahundi which targeted Ndebele civilians and Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) guerrillas.

Benjamin Pogrund OIS is a South African-born Israeli author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola–Zimbabwe relations</span> Bilateral relations

Relations between Angola and Zimbabwe have remained cordial since the birth of the states in 1975 and 1980, respectively, during the Cold War. While Angola's foreign policy shifted to a pro-U.S. stance based on substantial economic ties, under the rule of President Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe's ties with the West soured in the late 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Mugabe</span> President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2017

Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) from 1975 to 1980 and led its successor political party, the ZANU – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), from 1980 to 2017. Ideologically an African nationalist, during the 1970s and 1980s he identified as a Marxist–Leninist, and as a socialist during the 1990s and the remainder of his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nelson Mandela</span> President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Weiss (writer)</span> German-born South African writer

Ruth Weiss is a German-born South African writer who focuses on anti-racism in all its forms. She is a well-known anti-apartheid journalist and activist, exiled by South Africa and Rhodesia for her writings. She is based in Denmark and writes in both English and German. Her young adult, historical fiction reflects her battles against racism in Germany and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political history of Zimbabwe</span>

The modern political history of Zimbabwe starts with the arrival of white people to what was dubbed Southern Rhodesia in the 1890s. The country was initially run by an administrator appointed by the British South Africa Company. The prime ministerial role was first created in October 1923, when the country achieved responsible government, with Sir Charles Coghlan as its first Premier. The third premier, George Mitchell, renamed the post prime minister in 1933.

The 1981 Entumbane uprising, also known as the Battle of Bulawayo or Entumbane II, occurred between 8 and 12 February 1981 in and around Bulawayo, Zimbabwe amid political tensions in the newly independent state. Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) guerrillas, mainly in the city's western suburb of Entumbane, rebelled, creating a situation that threatened to develop into a fresh civil war, barely a year after the end of the Bush War. The Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR) and other white-commanded elements of the former Rhodesian Security Forces, fighting for the Zimbabwean government as part of the new Zimbabwe National Army, put down the uprising. Groups of Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) fighters attacked both ZIPRA and the government forces during the revolt, which followed a smaller outbreak of fighting between guerrillas in November 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecil Williams (anti-apartheid activist)</span> Anti-apartheid activist (1909–1979)

Cecil Williams (1906–1979) was an English-South African theatre director and anti-apartheid activist.

Africa–North Korea relations refers to the diplomatic relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the continent of Africa. Many African nations maintain a close relationship with North Korea, despite United Nations sanctions on North Korea.

References

  1. "Martin Meredith on Perseus Books". Archived from the original on 8 January 2006. Retrieved 26 April 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. Maslin, Janet (8 August 2005). "Africa and Its Rapacious Leaders". The New York Times . Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  3. Foster, Douglas. (23 December 2007). "Imperial Hubris: A debilitating war and shocking betrayal created South Africa". The Washington Post.