Revolution in Zanzibar: An American's Cold War Tale

by Donald Petterson

Book Overview

The Cold War exploded in Zanzibar in 1964 when African rebels slaughtered one of every ten Arabs. Led by a strange, messianic Ugandan, Cuban-trained factions headed the rebels, making Zanzibar (in the eyes of Washington) a potentially cancerous base for the communist subversion of mainland Africa. Exotic Zanzibar - fabled island of spices, former slave-trading entrep t, and stepping-off point for 19th century expeditions into the vast interior of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813342686
• ISBN13: 9780813342689
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.2" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Very Interesting Eyewitness Account

This book is great! It gives a American diplomatic eye-view of the scene in Zanzibar before, during, and after the revolution. Is it totally accurate? I would really have no easy way to verify it anyways. Is it biased? Perhaps. But from everything I can see, Donald does a fine job and seems to report things very fairly. He seems to be more concerned about reporting facts than putting a "spin" on things or giving interpretations, which is a good thing! Far from being "bland", this book is written very well and did a fine job of captivating my attention. Please do yourself a favour, if you are interested in the often turbulent history and politics of East Africa, get this book!

Look at State Department service in 1960s

"Revolution in Zanzibar: An American's Cold War Tale" by Don Petterson is the story of the before, during, and after of Zanzibar independence (from Britain), self-rule, revolution, and union with Tanganyika (to form the current Tanzania). Petterson was the only U.S. State Department official who was there the entire time. He tells the story of the various political players on all sides: the "Arab" rulers and elites who lost power; and the "African" revolutionaries who took it; the British officials -- old "African hands", and the Americans, eager to support democracy but wary of communist influence. Briefly, Zanzibar and its bloody revolution was on the front pages, but soon it was forgotten. Petterson tells of not only the international diplomatic calculations, but also writes about the day-to-day life of a diplomat in a far away place and time, and relates some of the history and atmosphere of a real place that many Americans might equate with Shangra-la or Xanadu. Illustrated with historic photographs. Well worth reading for the East Africa enthusiast or historian of U.S. diplomacy. And it has a great ending!

Excellent Read

Being married to someone who was brought up in the diplomatic lifestyle has its merits. One hears many stories of how life is lived in exotic countries, as well as the impact the cultures of those countries has on a person. Even though the immersion into another culture is marred by working and living with other Americans, that culture does work itself into you. My husband and I have both read this book, and have also been lucky enough to travel to East Africa. The author's descriptions of Zanzibar's history, culture and people are informative and well-researched. His passages can be either light-hearted or serious, and he does a good job of conveying the chaos and terror of the revolution's first days. I thought that the book flowed quite well, and that his style was quite engaging.My husband especially felt that this book was an accurate depiction of diplomatic life. Calling one's servants by first name was just the way things were done; not in the manner of "boy" or "man", but in the manner of friendship. Also, a certain detachment is inevitable due to working in an Embassy or Consulate, as well as the people that one works with. Of course, there are diplomats who take NO initiative in learning about or experiencing another culture. Ambassador Petterson does not seem like this type at all. This book allows a glimpse into the life of a lone American in a highly dangerous diplomatic situation. An almost unknown country and historical event unfolds through the pages, and we learn about the fringe of the Cold War, where one small island is contested between the Super Powers. An excellent read.

Revolution from a neocolonial point of view

While intriguing, the author suffers from cultural blindness and myopia. For example, all of his domestic Zanzibari servants are only mentioned by their first names. Remarkably, he cannot remember their last names. Given such neocolonial arrogance, is it any wonder that none of the Zanzibaris wanted to associate with the Americans! Having grown up in East Africa, I always understood the Americans to be a marginal force in that part of the world. Hence the author's reminiscences do reflect some limitations of cultural isolation and marginalization. While the author claims to be able to speak Swahili, he sheds little insight on how this developed his sense of cultural awareness. To the author, knowledge of Swahili was merely one of the tools of power to be leveraged to the advantage of his political master. However, while the book may be unable to withstand critical review over time, it is an important eyewitness account of the Zanzibar Revolution, and yes , it does shed some critical insight on the organization, the key players and the aftermath of the revolution. The author's account especially gains in importance because of a dearth of literature on the subject.

revolution in zanzibar

I found this book offered a fascinating insight into our cold war era. I was eleven at the time the author was in Zanzibar and we had just come through the Cuban Missle Crisis. As I read through the book I relived some of those moments. A very interesting insight into a lesser known African nation that plays into many of the issues that face just about all nations in Africa, namely the role that tribalism plays in determing who is in power and who is not in power. Ida Amin was one of the most notorious dictators and in this poignant book one gains an understanding that no matter how large or small your nation is in Africa, the challenges of bringing people together under one rule is daunting.Last, I liked the author's humor. This is not a dry book. I highly recommend it.