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MEMOIRS AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY Andrew Sardanis. Africa: Another Side of the Coin. Northern Rhodesia's Final Years and Zambia's Nationhood. London/New York: I.B. Taurus, 2003. Distributed by Palgrave. ix + 340 pp. Photographs. Map. Appendix. Selected Bibliography. Index. $39.50. Cloth.
When the Financial Times cared about the copper mines of central Africa, it labeled Andrew Sardanis as Zambia's "economic overlord." By the late 1960s, he directed Zambia's collection of parastatals called Indeco, in addition to being permanent secretary to the minister of commerce and industry. In Africa: Another Side of the Coin, he tells how the son of a Cypriot school-teacher became an influential businessmen and advisor to Zambia's post-colonial elite. On occasion the story strays into ex post facto justifications for his actions, and some might find fault with several unsubstantiated claims or insinuations. At times, too, the narrative is interrupted by unnecessarily long passages from past speeches, correspondence, and memoranda. However, if readers treat his book as autobiography rather than scholarly tract, Sardanis's lively mind and remarkable story will captivate those interested in Zambia's recent history and the history of business-state relations in Africa in general.
Sardanis left British-ruled Cyprus for Northern Rhodesia in search of a job that would earn him sufficient...