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A Story of Chaos and Redemption in the Ruins of Somalia
by Andrew Harding
The Mayor of Mogadishu is a rare an insider's account of Somalia's unraveling, and an intimate portrayal of one family's extraordinary journey.
In The Mayor of Mogadishu, one of the BBC's most experienced foreign correspondents, Andrew Harding, reveals the tumultuous life of Mohamoud "Tarzan" Nur - an impoverished nomad who was abandoned in a state orphanage in newly independent Somalia, and became a street brawler and activist. When the country collapsed into civil war and anarchy, Tarzan and his young family became part of an exodus, eventually spending twenty years in north London.
But in 2010 Tarzan returned, as Mayor, to the unrecognizable ruins of a city now almost entirely controlled by the Islamist militants of Al Shabab. For many in Mogadishu, and in the diaspora, Tarzan became a galvanizing symbol of courage and hope for Somalia. But for others, he was a divisive thug, who sank beneath the corruption and clan rivalries that continue, today, to threaten the country's revival.
"Starred Review. A beautifully rendered narrative and characterization portrays the soul of a country few Westerners truly understand." - Kirkus
"The Mayor of Mogadishu is much more than the story of one ambitious Somali politician. It is the modern history of one of the world's most troubled country, told with sensitivity, wisdom and compassion – and a rollicking good read besides." - The National
"Lucidly and exquisitely written...a fascinating and well told story of a city, a nation, and a man who...could personify both city and nation." - Ali Ahmed
"I am truly inspired by this book. This is the best written and most well-articulated book about Somalia that I have ever seen. Any Somali reader, let alone non-Somalis, will learn so much about Mayor Tarzan, Mogadishu, and the nomadic Somali life style." - Abdirashid S. Ahmed, MPP, LGSW, East African Community Specialist, Minneapolis
"Africa can be explained in dry prose, in figures, in newspaper reports; or it can be explained, as Andrew Harding does in this book, through an astonishing personal story, vivid and utterly memorable. This is a triumph of a book: surprising, informative, and humane." - Alexander McCall Smith
"A stunning odyssey. Harding masterfully shows us there is no 'them' in the world – there is only 'us'." - J.M. Ledgard, author of Submergence
"Andrew Harding is one of the great foreign correspondents in any medium. He has a sympathy for Somalia and its people that shines through this powerful book. He disdains cliche and reductive analysis, in the process creating some of the most beautiful writing about Africa that I have ever read." - Fergal Keane, author of Road of Bones and Season of Blood
"One of Africa's most experienced correspondents zeroes in on one of the most intriguing characters in the extraordinary post-apocalyptic world of modern Mogadishu. Like the city and its mayor, Harding brings depth, clarity, nuance and occasional poetry to his story. Rich, epic and important." - Alex Perry, author of The Rift: A New Africa Breaks Free
"A wonderful account of one of the most troubled yet beautiful countries on Earth, told by one of our most gifted and sensitive journalists. This is a book laced with hope amid the dark layers of hatred through which the Mayor of Mogadishu battles." - Jon Snow, Channel 4 News, UK
"Andrew Harding's elegantly-written account is much more than a portrait of the Mayor of Mogadishu. In bold, vivid brush-strokes it captures all the charm, colour, contradiction and menace of contemporary Somalia." - Michela Wrong, author of Borderlines
This information about The Mayor of Mogadishu was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Andrew Harding has been living and working abroad, as a foreign correspondent, for the past 25 years, in Russia, the Caucasus, Asia and Africa. He has been visiting Somalia since 2000. His television and radio reports for BBC News have won him international recognition, including an Emmy, an award from Britain's Foreign Press Association, and other awards in France, Monte Carlo, the United States and Hong Kong. He currently lives in Johannesburg with his family.
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