I rather think that there should be another option for rating books on Goodreads. This book cannot simply be rated as 'amazing' as the horrific and traumatic events recorded in such detail are hardly in the 'like' category.
The Zanzibar Chest is not an easy read but it is an honest and well written account of the genocidal wars which have taken place in various parts of Africa and Bosnia in the past twenty odd years. Some stories such as the little boy who lay down to die next to his mother and was almost buried alive I found quite heartbreaking. Many of the other events which Aidan Hartley writes about, his account of the murder of fellow journalists and trying to pick up the pieces of his life and putting all that he has witnessed behind him must have been so very hard. So very glad to read that he seems to have found some peace and solace in the country which he loves with his wife and young family.

It has been a while since I read about 'the dark continent,' and Aidan Hartley certainly loves his Africa. The author poetically interweaves his own story as an African and war correspondent and then the life of his father's friend, a British bureaucrat in Arabia. Though the story is occasionally disconnected and the prose is sometimes confusing from an inundation of exotic African descriptions, that is not the point of the book. The most important quality of this book is its ability to frankly describe some lurid scenes in Africa. The glut violence, sex, and anger are often gratuitously described, yet I still feel (thankfully) unable to fully appreciate the dark depths of a war correspondent's experiences. As a reader, I feel exposed to a new world that is full of courageous people, memories of idyllic scenes, but not yet at peace in its heart. As a traveler to Africa, I have a renewed respect for the continent's great power.

I thought that this would be a biography of the author's life in Africa, and his observations of the continent. In many ways it was. However, tied up in this book is the story of his parents, his father's long dead friend Peter Davey, and his time in other places (the Balkans, England, the Middle East). It is rambling, eclectic and scattered story. It is also full of disturbing details of what the author saw in the conflicts that he reported on. I found his experience in the Rwandan genocide to be horrific and difficult to read. It took me time to digest every chapter. He also reflects on the experience of journalism, and the legacy of colonialism.

There was much to be disgusted about while I read this. It is hard not to have a dim view of humanity. On the other hand, his love and respect for Africa shines through. He shares a surprising amount of details about his private life, warts and all.

Read this only if you are prepared for some graphic and disturbing details. It isn't easy reading. That being said, it was an excellent book that is well worth the effort. It rewards those who want to make the effort to understand topics that have no easy answer and that reveal the dark sides of human nature.

interesting, yes, but a little too much about the life and times of a kenyan cowboy.

Wow

I have no words to describe the emotions this book invoked. Beautiful, tragic, honest, fascinating. It goes through so much history interspersed with the author's life. Highly recommend!

Exceptional but much too long. The diaries of Davey could have been condensed. Overall, this was a depiction of an amazing life experiences, and very vivid. Got this on a friend's recommendation at the school used book sale.

Raw - Modern War Torn Africa thru the eyes of a desperately irresponsible, selfish, careless...but passionate, exciting, challenging Reuters journalist

This book is a bit disjointed as the autor alternates between his biography and the life of his father’s friend some 50 years earlier. The biography part is dominated by the description of the horrifying massacres that took place in Somalia and Rwanda. AD seems to delight in the graphic and lengthy description of the slaughterings that took place. He clearly was during his Reuter’s years a nutty junky who was getting a high from being in that environment. Like his father and ancestors he feels he is African. He certainly is in the sense he finds a certain normalcy in the mad cruelty that he witnesses; he also does not seem to mind living in abject conditions like his fellow Africans. By contrast his father’s environment seems a bit more civilized. Altogether in is a interesting view of the hopeless situation of black Africa.

The original KC (kenyan cowboy).

The romanticism of the African continent. A prose from a colonially aware white man in Africa that is (to me) most strikingly honest.

The paragraph on his different reactions toward the Balkan war and the genocide in Somalia is very interesting

Classic, absolutely classic memoir of a very fulfilled life. Part of the narrative was as good as the 'Heart of Darkness'. What a story, kept me captivated and engaged throughout the 440 odd pages. For me the most interesting aspect was the self reflection of the White colonisation of Africa. I tend to agree with Hartley's dad. They should have never gone into Africa. Whence gone in they should never have left it. Arabs colonised Africa before the Europeans, and they stayed on, slowly converting the local cultures to Islam. Now it is impossible to differentiate between the two races in Africa. This book is a homage to the few but extremely courageous Europeans who decided to stay on, long after their mother-ship had decided to go back. Aidan's experiences in some of the most vile and despicable massacres in Africa clearly demonstrates the important role of white man still has in controlling human disasters on unimaginable scale in Africa. Perhaps the most important insight I have had from the book is the working of the Western media when covering human catastrophes, where there is an implicit policy of fitting the pigeon holes of the Charities, reader’s fatigue, and stock market reactions. It does seem like that traditional media has become pretty ineffective and needs to be completely redefined.

Read the book if you want to witness the real face of human nature.

Please read this book. I read it when I was in Kenya because I knew very little about African history or politics. While I've barely made a dent in understanding the complexities of that vast continent, this non-fiction book provided tremendous insight and information. It was horrifying in some parts, particularly the sections about Somalia and Rwanda. I'm embarrassed that I didn't know more about those country's histories.

The book is written by Aidan Hartley whose father served in the British military as a peace keeper in the Middle East, then Africa. Aidan became a journalist covering Africa during the 80s and 90s so the story bounces back between the experiences and perspectives of these two men. It's absolutely fascinating.

To be completely honest, Aiden Hartley, although I envy his travels, is a pompous prick. he wanders around Africa pretending that it is his, and yet knows nothing of the people he lives "with." He hangs out with white people in white bars, and is essentially a whiny ex-pat child even though he was born in Kenya.

And then Ex-pats (of every culture) wonder why everyone hates them; It's because of people like Aiden Hartley.