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Alexander Chula
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Goodbye, Dr Banda: Lessons for the West From a Small African Country Hardcover – July 4, 2023

by Alexander Chula (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 45 ratings
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‘You may never have been, may never go, may never even have heard of the place – but Malawi will repay your attention. It is one of the smallest, poorest countries in Africa, often overlooked; but its relationship with us in the West has been extraordinary.’

In a ruined dictator’s palace, Alexander Chula – a classicist-turned-doctor, fresh out of Oxford – stumbles upon an oak treasure chest. Inside is a priceless, antique edition of Julius Caesar’s Gallic War. This unexpected talisman of Western high culture belongs to the mercurial Dr Banda, a man of many parts: scholarly physician, anti-colonial hero, brutal tyrant, and fallen philosopher-king.

Banda leads the author deep into the heart of this mysterious country, there to uncover a bizarre meeting of worlds: between one of Africa's most fascinating indigenous cultures and the best and worst of our own. Here tribal ritual collides with Greek theatre; masked dancers with roving classicists; poets and pop stars with missionary-explorers; hippies and kleptocrats with long-suffering peasants.

The story is enigmatic but exhilarating, by turns edifying and deeply uncomfortable. But we would do well to examine it: Malawi presents urgent lessons which resonate piercingly in our vexed age of culture wars and identity crisis.
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  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Birlinn
  4. Publication date
    July 4, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    8.78 x 1.3 x 5.87 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1846976278
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1846976278
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From the Publisher

Goodbye, Dr Banda importance Malawi Africa

John Lawanda review rewarding delightful personal examination

Felix Mnthali impressively researched beautifully written book

Theodore Dalrymple subtle penetrating light on both Africa and the West

Robert Twigger Red Nile author Goodbye Dr Banda is timely erudite fascinating insight modern Africa

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an impressively researched, beautifully written book. I loved the empathy Chula brings to Malaŵi’s myths, our past and our present. The history of missionaries like Robert Laws and Chauncy Maples showed his thoroughness in research. This is a book to read and enjoy."
Felix Mnthali

"Goodbye, Dr Banda is one of those rare books that are hard to classify, but are all the more delightful for that very reason. It is a highly unusual personal memoir, but it is also a sympathetic and perceptive portrait of a country and its past. It is a quite superb book that will linger with the reader for a long time after it is read."
Alexander McCall Smith

"A rewarding, delightful and personal examination of Dr Banda’s struggle to reconcile his indigenous Chewa culture with the culture of the Greek and Latin Classics ... Radical, deep and surprising, with gentle but trenchant observations on African versus Western cultural dynamics."
John Lwanda

"This book gets better and better as it goes along. Fascinating, extremely well written, and a very important – though under-stated – contribution to the ongoing debate about colonialism."
Sir Roger Scruton

"Alexander Chula casts a subtle but penetrating light on both Africa and the West. There is nothing quite like it."
Theodore Dalrymple

"A riveting – and cautionary – tale of a collision of two cultures, as seen through the eyes of a young classicist turned medical doctor, who discovers that Ancient Greek legend and the rituals of the Chewa people have much in common. Brilliantly observed and packed with insights, the result is an African classic."
Michael Holman

"I have read this with great enjoyment. Learning about the tradition of classics in Malawi since Banda is fascinating, and the author’s personal experiences as a teacher at Kamuzu Academy – and at Oxford prior to that – are vivid, memorable, and described with directness and elegance."
Armand D’Angour

"Absolutely engaging from beginning to end, Goodbye, Dr. Banda is very likely to position Chula as a leading literary voice in years to come. I recommend this work for the way it informs, its cultural insights, and for its keenly observed detail."
Tahir Shah, author of Time magazine best-seller The Caliph’s House: A Year in Casablanca

"Timely, erudite, and a fascinating insight into the complex diversity that is the real modern Africa."
Robert Twigger, best-selling author of Red Nile

"Astute and thoughtful observations of an African microcosm contain important lessons for the larger discussion of the impact of Western colonialism. There is wisdom here, elegantly expressed."
Nigel Biggar, CBE, Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the University of Oxford and author of Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning

"Chula's powerfully thought-provoking book shows the folly of treating Western high culture as merely a tool for self-flagellation. Properly embraced, it can be a route for engagement with the equal wealth of other cultures, rather than division."
The Critic

Triumphantly upends the familiar narrative . . . a quxiotic attempt to show us what countries can learn about love and art from rural Malawians'
Financial Times

Astute and thoughtful observations of an African microcosm contain important lessons for the larger discussion of the impact of Western colonialism. There is wisdom here, elegantly expressed'
Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology, author of Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning

[Chula] has an authoritative voice, an empathetic writing style and a very shrewd eye. He has written a social monograph, a national history, and philosophical treatise on our times that deserves a warm and wide reception'
ThinkScotland.org

Extremely rich and interesting... Many people, alas, read to confirm their prejudices; this book will make people reflect on and think about what they have never considered before'
New English Review

A superbly written dedication to the beauty and strength of modern Africa. Essential reading'
Amazon Five Stars

About the Author

Alexander Chula is a writer and NHS junior doctor. He was born and raised in London, and is of mixed Thai and British ancestry. He read Classics at Worcester College, Oxford, then medicine at the University of London. He has worked in Malaŵi both as a teacher of Latin and Greek and as a doctor.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Birlinn (July 4, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1846976278
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1846976278
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.78 x 1.3 x 5.87 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

About the author

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Alexander Chula

Alexander Chula

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Alexander Chula is a medical doctor and writer of Anglo-Thai ancestry. He studied Classics at Worcester College, Oxford, then medicine at the University of London. He is interested in cultural exchange between Africa, Asia and the West.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
45 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • mohamed khashoggi
    5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding read
    Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This book was a wonderful read. I have been to Malawi only once but one of my high school teachers found his way to Malawi years ago to teach, his stories about the famous school for classics always intrigued me. What caught my attention about this book at first was the esoteric nature of the subject. Once I started reading it the gifts were endless. This was a book that I immediately knew I wanted to read very slowly. Brilliantly written, entertaining and most importantly, you learn something new in every chapter about African colonial history, classics, literature, and how beautiful the English language can be when written so eloquently. I hope the author publishes more in the future.
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  • Wilhelm Snyman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Subtle and profound
    Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Having lived in Malawi, my attention was drawn to this book and I read the book on Kindle, i.e. as soon as I could get hold of he written text. There's humour, there's insight, there's a profound understanding, not only of the complexities of Malawian society, but also of its history, the ironies of its histor, the heroism of the simple folk who seem to be bludgeoned by history and yet triumph in a way that is understandable to them, if not always to the average Westerner. But then the author is not the average Westerner, he straddles worlds and as such his views and not uncritical sympathy for Malawi shines through. He is keenly aware of the absurdities of imposing Western norms on the country and culture, and also points out how these norms have become adapted, modified and tuned to a way of life that would certainly cut the average Westerner down to size. Written with great empathy and understated elegance, I cannot recommend this work by Alexander Chula more highly.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Petronius
    5.0 out of 5 stars This book
    Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2024
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    Outstanding- lesson to all of us.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • P Ashton
    5.0 out of 5 stars Subtle and sharply observed book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I’ve lived in Malawi for the last four years, and this book captures an accurate picture of life in the country. It also goes beyond that with observations and facets of life in Malaiw that I’ve not engaged with . Fabulous book. Everyone I recommend it to loves it.
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  • Nicks Events
    5.0 out of 5 stars Mutual understanding required
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I wish I had read this before I went to Malawi.
    I shall certainly go again
    The Malawian people are quite exceptional in their hospitality as this book makes clear.
    Report
  • Mr Ed the talking horse
    5.0 out of 5 stars Historical honesty in a complex world, told with insight, good grace and good humour.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This captivating account of Malawi, its culture and history, is told with insight, good grace and good humour. Two stand-out lessons are the enduring value of: a job well-done, however uncelebrated or obscure; and historical honesty in a complex world. For me, the book also awakens memories of ‘the warm heart of Africa’, where I worked for two years from 1978-80 – when Dr Banda was at the height of his Life Presidency.
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  • Lucie Drobis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly insightful - highly recommended!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This book is not afraid to challenge contemporary fashionable opinions in favour of those grounded in first hand experience and incredibly well researched history, all wrapped up in suberbly written prose. It is fascinating from a personal perspective, containing snippets of life in Malawi that most will never experience, but also contains a treasure trove of cultural observations that will certainly leave the reader with a huge amount to think about and some opinions thoroughly shaken. Highly recommended.
    Customer image
    Lucie Drobis
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Incredibly insightful - highly recommended!

    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2023
    This book is not afraid to challenge contemporary fashionable opinions in favour of those grounded in first hand experience and incredibly well researched history, all wrapped up in suberbly written prose. It is fascinating from a personal perspective, containing snippets of life in Malawi that most will never experience, but also contains a treasure trove of cultural observations that will certainly leave the reader with a huge amount to think about and some opinions thoroughly shaken. Highly recommended.
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  • Faughman
    5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 12, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    An excellently written book that will appeal to the general reader as well as those with an interest in Malawi. It explores the cultural commonalities and dissonance between western and Malawian society through the author’s experience whilst working as a teacher and doctor in the country, framed by the history of missionaries, classics and Hastings Banda.

    A stimulating read that will linger in the mind!
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