pher into her bedroom and locked thendoor. “At first her mother screamed andntook it as a personal insult… but Sharonnlooked pityingly at Sheila and askednwhether she had ever done anything beforenshe got married a hundred years agonand that just about ended the battle.”nPerhaps Caute isn’t a scholar but a writernfor seamy confessional magazines.nAcidulous description of whitenRhodesians abound, but then so—^to benfeir—do descriptions of frightful atrocitiesnby the blacks. Yet even these descriptions,nwhich might provide the casualnreader with the sense of authorial objectivity,nare frequently subtly undercut. Forninstance, the death of tiny white NatashanGlenny “provided the Salisbury regimenwith an ideal propaganda weapon. Thensmiling, cherubic features of this chubbynsix-month-old baby appeared on thenMinistry ofInformation’spamphlet,Massacrenof the Innocents.” Presumably thatnusage underscored a tactical error, rathernthan a crime.nBut Mr. Caute has heroes. One was “annoflftcious French joumalistfromLe Something”nwho asked exasperating questionsnof Alex Maddocks, straining the patiencenof his host. But “the man from Le Somethingnis not abashed,” said Mr. Caute. “Henexpects to meet hostility, even violence,nin a white imperialist racist communitynfacing a revolutionary uprising ofnthe impoverished and exploited peasantnmasses.” (Italics added.)nRacist is a word Mr. Caute tossesnaround with remarkable ease—but onlynin association with whites. Blacks arenISinChronicles of Culturenmoved by resentment, ambition, pride,nlust, and other recognizably human attributes,nbut never hy racism. His partisanshipnis open He depicts the steady declinenof the authority ofthe white governmentnwith the satisfaction of an undertaker.nThis makes for somber reading. At i&rstnthe attacks were isolated. In time they becamenso numerous that automobile convoysnwere necessary. The toll mountednsteadily, with missions and schools beingnspecial targets. At no point does Mr.nCaute describe an assault by the “freedomnfighters” upon a barracks, a policenstation, or the armed forces. His heroesnspecialized in murdering civilians, in thenspecial way of sowing terror that was inventednby our own John Brown andnwhich is now fenailiar around the world.nThis form of “stru^e” is heavily reliantnupon the media and intellectuals tonprovide noble rationalizations for barbarousndeeds. John Brown in Kansas benefitednfrom felse legends of self-defensenand heroism invented by Northern journalists.nToday, the liberal press does notnbother to invent such mundane justificationsnfor terrorists; the nobility of theirncause is considered sufficient. This opinion,nspread through the global media andnaccepted by liberals everywhere, led tondecolonization by the West. The whitenresidents of Rhodesia watched the decolonizationnof Nyasaland in their northn(to which Rhodesia was once attached)nwith full knowledge that Whitehallnplanned the same for the south. That lednto a unilateral declaration of independencenand the election of Ian Smith. Becausenof those actions, Rhodesia was os-nnntracized, subjected to UN sanctions, andnpilloried by the media. The KremUn (angreat capital of freedom), Peking (fortressnof liberty), Havana (a bastion ofnmercy), Washington (a center of idealism)nand Whitehall (the soul of tolerance)nbellowed in unison.nThe U.S.S.R. and the Peoples Republicnof China provided arms, uniforms,nmoney, inspiration, and the diligentpensnof their slaves and sympathizers to thencause of black majority rule in Rhodesia.nAnd although Smith’s regime held outforn13 grueling years, it finally fell.nThe manner and reasons for its M are,nof course, worthy of a book, but not thensort of book that Mr. Caute has written.nWhat is needed is an examination ofthenarguments thatled the Westtocooperatenin the expansion of totalitarian rule in Africa.nFor, of course, Mugabe’s electionnwas the last the people of Zimbabwe willnenjoy for someundefinable—butcertainlynlong—^time.n1. he author of such a future book willnfind Mr. Caute’s peculiar contribution anninteresting case inderacinationandalienation.nThe Caute vision, which regardsnmurders by blacks as excusable and ordinarynsocial intercourse among whites asnpeculiarly evil, constitutes a case of culturalnlunacy startling in its bias but notn(unfortunately) uncommon. Curiously,nalthough its zealots are numerous amongnus, we have notyet analyzeddiy so manynpersons like Caute hate their ownkind sonmuch that they help promote the spreadnof tyrarmy. This puzzle may, unless wensolve it, get us all killed.n