Kenya

出版者:I. B. Tauris

作者:Charles Hornsby

页数:736

出版时间:2012-1-15

价格:USD 99.79

isbn号码:9781848858862

具体描述

Since independence in 1963, Kenya has survived nearly five decades as a functioning nation-state, with regular elections, its borders intact, and without experiencing war or military rule. However, Kenya's independence has always been circumscribed by its failure to transcend its colonial past: its governments have failed to achieve adequate living conditions for most of its citizens and its politics have been fraught with controversy - illustrated most recently by the post-election protests and violence in 2007. The decisions of the early years of independence, and the acts of its leaders in the decades since - from Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya, and Oginga Odinga to Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki - have changed the country's path in unpredictable ways, but key themes of conflicts remain: over land, tribalism - including the simmering Kikuyu-Luo rivalries - money, power, national autonomy, and the distribution of resources. The political elite's endless struggle for access to state resources has damaged Kenya's economy and the political exploitation of ethnicity still threatens the country's stability. In this definitive new history, Charles Hornsby demonstrates how independent Kenya's politics have been dominated by a struggle to deliver security, impartiality, efficiency, and growth, but how the legacies of the past have continued to undermine their achievement, making the long-term future of Kenya far from certain.

作者简介

Charles Hornsby has been a writer, analyst and occasional contributor to Kenya's politics for more than 25 years. He has combined a professional career in IT with a multinational company (which has allowed him the opportunity to live in Ghana, Kenya, The Netherlands and Malaysia) with a deep engagement with Kenya, its politics and and prosects. He completed his doctorate on Kenya at St. Antony's College Oxford in the 1980s and was the co-author in 1997 of the influential Multi-Party Politics in Kenya with David Throup. He has been a journalist, international observer and domestic observer in various Kenyan elections.

He is married to Gifty and they have two children, Edith and Peter.

用户评价

作者叙事的节奏掌控得如同一个经验老到的指挥家，时而急促如骤雨般倾泻而下，将人卷入紧张的核心情节中，让人几乎无法喘息；时而又放缓笔调，像是在午后慵懒的阳光下，细细描摹一幅静止的风景画，笔触温柔而绵长，让你有足够的时间去品味其中蕴含的哲思和情感的微妙变化。这种张弛有度的叙事手法，极大地增强了故事的感染力，有效地避免了情节的单一化和阅读疲劳。特别是当关键转折点来临时，作者总能精准地找到那个最能引发读者情绪波动的临界点，让人在不经意间就被推向了故事的高潮。我发现自己常常会因为一个突如其来的停顿或一个意想不到的视角转换而停下来，反复琢磨作者是如何将如此复杂的情绪脉络编织得如此天衣无缝。这种对叙事时间线的精妙调度，使得整部作品读起来酣畅淋漓，绝无拖沓之感。

这部作品在人物塑造上的功力深厚得令人敬佩。笔下的人物并非扁平化的符号，而是拥有着丰富层次和内在矛盾的复杂个体。他们有的像是在我们身边呼吸的邻居，真实得让人感到心痛或振奋；有的则像是从远古神话中走出的原型，带着某种令人敬畏的宿命感。最妙的是，作者没有急于对这些角色下定论，而是通过他们自身的选择、挣扎以及彼此间的互动，自然而然地揭示了人性的幽微之处。我尤其欣赏那些“灰色地带”的角色，他们既有光辉的时刻，也有令人不齿的阴暗面，他们的每一步都充满了人性的挣扎与真实。阅读过程中，我常常会站在不同角色的立场上去思索，试图去理解他们做出那些看似荒谬决定的深层动机。这种代入感是极其强大的，它迫使读者走出自我固有的视角，去拥抱更广阔的人类经验。

虽然我必须承认，这本书的阅读门槛并不算低，它要求读者投入相当的注意力和思考。它不是那种可以让人在通勤路上轻松消遣的读物，因为它更像是一个精心设置的谜题，或者说是一个需要深入挖掘的文化遗迹。作者埋藏了大量的隐喻和典故，这些元素像是隐藏在文本深处的彩蛋，只有那些愿意付出努力去探寻的读者，才能真正领略到作品的深度和全貌。这种“挑战性”反而成了我持续阅读下去的强大动力。每一次成功解读一个晦涩的段落，或者连接起两个看似无关的线索时，那种豁然开朗的智力满足感是无与伦比的。它迫使我的思维走出舒适区，去进行更高层次的联想和推理。这本书更像是一次思维的健身，它锻炼了我的耐心，也极大地拓宽了我对某些议题的认知边界，是一次真正有价值的智力投入。

这本书的语言风格简直是一场文字的狂欢，充满了令人耳目一新的文学创造力。作者似乎并不满足于标准的书面语，而是大胆地融合了各种语域和修辞手法，构建出一种独属于这部作品的“语感”。时而出现那种精准到令人拍案叫绝的比喻，将抽象的概念具象化，让读者瞬间领悟到作者想要传达的精髓；时而又运用一种近乎口语化的、充满生命力的对话，使得场景瞬间鲜活起来，仿佛能听到人物的呼吸和语气。这种对语言的驾驭能力，显示出作者深厚的文学底蕴和不懈的探索精神。那些精心雕琢的句子，读起来有一种音乐般的韵律感，即使是描述最平淡的场景，也被赋予了诗意的光芒。我甚至会忍不住放慢速度，将一些特别精妙的段落反复诵读，细细品味其中每一个词语的音韵和重量。

这本书的装帧设计简直是视觉的盛宴，从封面那大胆而富有冲击力的色彩搭配，到内页纸张的细腻触感，都透露出一种对细节的极致追求。每一次翻阅，都像是在进行一场精心策划的感官之旅。我尤其欣赏作者在排版上采取的留白策略，那恰到好处的空间感，让文字仿佛拥有了呼吸的自由，使得阅读体验无比的沉浸和舒畅。装帧的整体风格既有古典的厚重感，又不失现代设计的简洁明快，这种平衡拿捏得非常到位。书脊的设计也很有巧思，即便是直立在书架上，它也像是一件艺术品，散发着低调而迷人的光芒。可以看得出，出版方在制作这本书时投入了大量的匠心和成本，这不仅仅是一本书，更是一件值得珍藏的工艺品。对于那些注重阅读仪式感和书籍收藏价值的读者来说，光是冲着这精美的外观，这本书就绝对值得入手。那种捧在手中的分量感，那种指尖划过纸张的摩擦感，都是电子阅读器无法替代的独特体验。

皇皇巨著被肯当局禁了。

皇皇巨著被肯当局禁了。

皇皇巨著被肯当局禁了。

皇皇巨著被肯当局禁了。

皇皇巨著被肯当局禁了。