Afrocommunism by David Ottaway; Marina OttawayReview by: Jennifer Seymour WhitakerForeign Affairs, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Fall, 1981), p. 217Published by: Council on Foreign RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20041065 .

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RECENT BOOKS 217

A pioneering study of an important subject. Japanese government officials, interviewed by the author, charge the Japanese press with lack of objectivity,

partial and unfair reporting, a dearth of facts, a tendency to concentrate on

stories that embarrass the government, an abundance of speculation, and a

strong anti-American bias. The sense of dissatisfaction was especially marked

among Japanese Foreign Ministry officials. There are also interviews with

reporters and other staff from the four major daily newspapers, an examination of the influence of labor unions on editorial policy, a detailed description of how the newspapers actually operate, the use of politicians as news sources, and more.

Africa

Jennifer Seymour Whitaker

AFROCOMMUNISM. By David and Marina Ottaway. New York: Africana, 1981, 237 pp. $24.80 (paper, $12.50).

In this superb study of African leftist regimes, the Ottaways assert unequiv ocally that the self-declared Marxist regimes formed since the end of Portu

guese colonialism represent a new phenomenon in Africa. Through extended case studies of Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia (as well as shorter analyses of other countries), they argue convincingly that the use of Marxist ideology as a blueprint for development gives these states a steady commitment to a

particular pattern of state-owned and collectivized economic institutions, as well as a firm foreign alignment with the Eastern bloc. In the authors' view, this pattern is likely to prove more durable than previous African socialist

experiments; whether it will be more effective at solving economic and social

problems remains to be seen.

ASKING FOR TROUBLE: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A BANNED JOURNALIST. By Donald Woods. New York: Atheneum, 1981, 373 pp. $12.95.

Replete with pungent anecdotes about South Africa's past and present leadership, this autobiographical account of Woods' 20-year joust with the

government over the question of apartheid is lifted by the author's remarkable

personal ?lan. Only with the death of his friend, the black leader Steve Biko, and his own banning and harassment by the police does the crusading newspaper editor, perforce, abandon his mission. His final dramatic flight from South Africa constitutes a hard judgment on his native land.

THE STRUGGLE FOR ZIMBABWE: THE CHIMURENGA WAR. By David Martin and Phyllis Johnson. London and Boston: Faber and Faber,

1981,374 pp. $25.00. THE STRUGGLE FOR ZIMBABWE: BATTLE IN THE BUSH. By Lewis H. Gann and Thomas H. Henriksen. New York: Praeger, 1981, 154 pp.

With its wealth of documented information on the internal workings of the Zimbabwean guerrilla movements, the somewhat staccato historical narrative

by Martin and Johnson, two long-time Africa correspondents, will fascinate and enlighten Zimbabwe-watchers. Particularly compelling is their account of the gradual ascendance of Robert Mugabe within ZANU's complex dual structures of military and civilian leadership. The authors' links with the leaders of Mugabe's ZANU group clearly shape their overall perspective, but their extraordinary access, in terms of interviews, internal correspondence and

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