Garfield Todd: The End of the Liberal Dream in Rhodesia: The authorised biography by Susan Woodhouse

By any standard, Sir Garfield Todd (1908-2002) was a great man. But was his legacy anything more than a deferred dream about the need for a multicultural, non-racial society in Southern Rhodesia? When his ground-breaking premiership ended with a cabinet coup in 1958, an editorial in the African Daily News said the Garfield Todd was the white politician most trusted by blacks and that his fall was 'a severe blow to the forces of co-operation in this country'. With his political demise, most whites rejoiced. At his death, many blacks mourned. What happened - and why? Over the decades, historians and journalists have tried to make sense of the Todd story. They asked why so many Europeans distanced themselves from his imaginative - but far from revolutionary - policies, which could have secured for them a solid future in Rhodesia, and perhaps avoided UDI in November 1965 and a war that cost over 35,000 African lives. For a range of reasons, the story of Garfield Todd has been airbrushed out of the history of Zimbabwe's struggle for independence. Many are unaware that there were those in Rhodesia ready to risk their careers - and even their lives - to bring down Ian Smith and the Rhodesian Front. Susan Woodhouse worked for Garfield Todd in the Prime Minister's office, and then as his secretary at Hokonui Ranch, and has spent the last 25 years piecing together the story from a wealth of archival sources. The story takes the reader from the early days of Rhodesia, across a broad and fascinating spectrum of political, economic and social developments that ends in 2002 with Garfield's death. He and his wife, Grace, started their careers as Christian missionaries in 1934 and subsequently became bywords for educational reform and political tolerance. Woodhouse has written a compelling and engaging book about a man who tried to change what the historian Lawrence Vambe called 'an ill-fated country'. Todd's words, hopes and actions will resonate with the aspirations of Zimbabweans of all ages and backgrounds as they walk toward the next stage of their history: a hopeful future.

• | Author: Susan Woodhouse (Biographer of Garfield Todd)
• | Publisher: Weaver Press
• | Publication Date: Apr 17, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 632 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1779223234
• | ISBN-13: 9781779223234