Len Norman (1)

African Adventure is Len Norman’s memoirs about his time as a policeman in Zambia, first from when it was still the British colony of Northern Rhodesia and then from independence onward. Overall, I found this book to be rewarding, if limited. It was genuinely interesting and revealing insight into a world that I as an American had little experience or familiarity with (with a notable exception of Rhodesia, where I had read a book about it).

I would praise this book for being a useful collection of memories and experiences from an area that is probably underserved in terms of memoir. You should not come in expecting breathtaking prose, and but the writing is fine and moves along at a nice pace, never bogging down. There is some good discussion of institution building and how that worked in Zambia.

The criticisms I would raise would be that it is somewhat repetitive; each chapter covers his assignment in one area or particular position, and the he describes his experiences pretty similarly overall; that he talks a lot about the positives and successes of his times in Zambia but I would have liked to learn more about the struggles and failures, and what he and the institutions learned from them; and that it doesn’t do a good job of explaining broader trends in Africa/Britain and how they impacted the world he operated in. I would have liked to have learned more about what factors and developments shaped the Zambian police. However, it’s fair to note this isn’t supposed to be a history of the Zambian police force; it’s the history of Len Norman and his time as a member of the NRP/Zambian police.

None of the criticisms are major, and I found it to be an overall very rewarding book. If you come into it hoping to learn more about what this guy saw and experienced as Zambia transitioned from British colony to independent country, and what that was like on the ground level for the Police Force, this is a good book that I can recommend.… (mehr)

A bit of a mixed bag, this one. Much of the book is anecdotal reflections on a twenty-odd year career as a polis in Zambia, before, during, and after independence. This is interesting, with a lot of useful information in there for anyone interested in the history or politics of African nations. it could have included more history and politics, weaving the author's experiences around a narrative, but it doesn't, which is a shame. There are factors both in favour or the author and against him when reading this. Firstly, the author is a generally decent sort it seems. He isn't a racist or white supremacist and he is critical of that sort of person. He is clearly pro-independence and pro-African, and appears to treat and speak of Africans as if they were full human beings. This really shouldn't be a point in his favour but there are still historians (and polis) today who treat Africans as less than human. Against him is that his liberalism creates a kind of cognitive dissonance. He can't bring himself to criticise Britain and the British Empire even when dealing with the historical fallout of the Imperial punder-machine, or even when British agents attempt to use terrorism and economic warfare to damage Zambia. He is in the frontline of imperialist attacks on Africa and he can recognise that, but somehow he still thinks the Empire was a good thing. In this he is reflecting the structural racism of imperialism and patriotism even whilst he criticises the bigoted racism of the individual (see also, Brexit!). Similarly he remains freinds with and even approves in the book of individuals who are of the bigoted type. This is a shame, but I appreciate his honesty in not trying to cover up these faults, and this honesty runs throughout the book. For example there are a lot of kind-of Keystone Kops stories, which make the police look incompetant and dangerous, but they're entertainng and informative so I'm glad he left them in. The information about his work in financial policing was really fascinating a good example of stuff that people don't really know about but controls their life.

Where the book falls down for me is the author's reflections on his life outside the police, his family, friendships and hobbies and whatnot. Whilst interesting and important to him they aren't really that interesting to the reader and there is a lot of it to wade through. His police and investigations work post-Zambia is only covered in brief, but it would be nice to have read more ahout it including cases and anecdotes because otherwise its just his CV and not a memoir.

In the end I really hope that this chap is as decent a fellow as he seems. I admire a man with a commitment to real justice and there are few of them in the world. With the work of a decent editor teasing out the wheat from the chaff this might be a very good book but as it is there are some frustating trawls through family holidays and questions about cases left unanswered. Worth a look if it covers areas of interest to yourself, but not if not.… (mehr)