Paul Kenyon has travelled in almost every African country in the footsteps of the dictators. He is a distinguished BBC correspondent and BAFTA award-winning journalist and author.
'The stories it tells of dictators such as Robert Mugabe and Muammer Gaddafi are grimly fascinating and leave the reader to ponder why so many of Africa's liberation heroes turned into villains' * Financial Times, Books of the Year * 'A humane, timely, accessible and well-researched book that shines a light on urgent African issues [...] that, when we consider the state of our own societies, can no longer be dismissed as merely somewhere else's problem' * Irish Times * 'Paul Kenyon is a brilliant writer who's been there and tells a story of unparalleled greed and western complicity in vivid detail' -- Michael Buerk 'It is [the] minute observations that make Mr Kenyon's book so hard to put down' * Economist * 'Mr Kenyon narrates a jaw-dropping tale of greed, corruption and brutality' * Daily Express * Well written and sensibly structured... Some of the most revealing passages are based on interviews with retired expatriate executives and diplomats who were witness to the excesses of the early post-colonial years' * Sunday Times * 'Kenyon's stories of corruption and excess are truly compelling, while his analysis of the West's motivations is astute and illuminating' * Culture Trip * A heart-breaking and stomach-churning history but also an utterly absorbing one... Kenyon blends in gripping, authenticating first-hand testimonies from those who were behind the carnage and corruption... This book shines a vital light on how Africa was robbed in broad daylight ' * UAE National * Highly readable... A chapter on the rise of Felix Houphouet-Boigny is especially vivid' * The Times * 'A familiar story, but still shocking' * Sunday Times *