When a Crocodile Eats the Sun

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun
ISBN: 9780330448185
Publication Date: 1 January 2008

Peter Godwin, an award-winning writer, is on assignment in Zululand when he is summoned by his mother to Zimbabwe, his birthplace. His father is seriously ill; she fears he is dying. Godwin finds his country, once a post-colonial success story, descending into a vortex of violence and racial hatred.

His father recovers, but over the next few years Godwin travels regularly between his family life in Manhattan and the increasing chaos of Zimbabwe, with its rampant inflation and land seizures making famine a very real prospect. It is against this backdrop that Godwin discovers a 50-year-old family secret, one which changes everything he thought he knew about his father, and his own place in the world.

Peter Godwin's book combines vivid reportage, moving personal stories and revealing memoir, and traces his family's quest to belong in hostile lands - a quest that spans three continents and half a century.

About the Author

Peter Godwin is the author of Mukiwa, also published by Picador, an account of his childhood and early adulthood. He writes for various publications including the New York Times magazine, National Geographic, Time and Newsweek. He lives in Manhattan.