Jack Mapanje's prison memoir is an important book for those searching for a meaningful understanding of the post-independence past. Whereas in the heady days of democratisation there was a tendency to locate what had gone wrong in Africa in the period from independence to democratisation, there is now often a mood in reverse, where the immediate post-independence period is seen as relatively unproblematic. Yet, that was a time when detention without trial was widespread in Africa, and particularly so in Malawi. Jack Mapanje was detained without trial for three years, seven months, sixteen days, and more than twelve hours. This book is highly evocative of the particular suffering brought by such political detention. In the case of criminal conviction, there is a definite reason to be in jail that may be correct or not. The sensible reaction in the case of detention without trial is not to think about possible reasons for detention as these are not given, but the prisoner is usually racking his or her brain about what may have caused their detention and what they may have done wrong. Jack Mapanje does so throughout this book, giving a harrowing feeling of the uncertainty and insecurity of social contacts in a totalitarian state. Also, when a person is convicted for a criminal offence, every day served in prison is one less, but in the case of political detention each day adds to the prisoner's condemnation. Logically, this leads to endless speculation about possible release, and Jack Mapanje conveys how sane minds can become mired in superstition looking for signs of a possible release. This worry was particularly poignant in the case of Jack Mapanje as many of his fellow detainees were released when democratisation dawned but he was kept in prison.

However, this is not merely a depressing account of imprisonment. There is a lightness in Jack Mapanje that shines through the book. He portrays himself as a man who prefers to go for a drink when his family goes to church. Nevertheless, he starts to participate actively in religious life in prison as it is socially so important, and he obviously had the literary skill to give biblical stories meaning. Religion, however, gave rise to an important rift in the prison community between Seventh Day Adventists (SDA) and those who worshipped on Sunday. The SDA prisoners proselytised actively, and Mapanje disliked this fanaticism. On the contrary, he had pleasure in meeting the diversity of people that were detained. A high point in the book is Mapanje teaching an illiterate tobacco farmer, who had fallen foul of Banda's tobacco interests, to read and write. The book can be read for no other reason than the appreciation of anecdotes told by an indomitable spirit. A casual reader without a special interest in Malawi can dip into the many chapters that read like self-contained articles.

The book is, however, also more than that: it provides an interpretation of the workings of the totalitarian state. Mapanje then comes to a common interpretation: the state is controlled by John Tembo and his relatives. Among these is Zamani Kadzimira, the principal of Chancellor College when Jack Mapanje was detained. At a certain point Mapanje even exonerates Banda: ‘It is not Banda, but the Kadzimira-Tembo cabal that rule the country’ (p. 391). This ascription of evil to particular people is and was common in Malawi. It is a powerful discourse reminiscent to the widespread belief in witchcraft in Malawi. From time to time this crops up in the book: Banda and the Kadzimira-Tembo clan are accused of reasoning in terms of witchcraft: ‘But what is more sickening is the authorities’ belief that whatever happens in this country is caused either by witchcraft or people from other districts and regions' (p. 308). Another reference to witchcraft is found on p. 185: ‘If Banda is bringing madmen into prison, he is playing with fire; his time and that of his concubine's family is up then his time is up. Athakati-witches.’ It is typical for the period that Banda moulded pre-existing beliefs into the modern state. However, the question is whether Banda moulded society or whether Banda was a product of that society. The last consideration challenges the location of evil: it may then have been more widespread in society.

There is considerable evidence that the history of Banda's Malawi is more complicated than a simple centralised system suggests. For example: Mapanje's account of the Cabinet Crisis of 1964 is the story of an evil man against a group of good men. Colin Baker's exhaustive study of the Cabinet Crisis shows a much more complicated picture, where the hunger for power was not only on the part of Banda. Jack Mapanje assumes that Banda and Tembo were the murderers of the four Cabinet ministers in 1980. Banda and Tembo were brought before court for this act after democratisation. I have studied that court case and the evidence points to the top civil servant of the day, John Ngwiri.

Banda was misled after the fact, and Tembo felt something was amiss and could not get a grip on it. Similarly, Mapanje asserts with certainty that Dunduza Chisiza was killed. The historian Joey Power took the evidence from the Malawian archives to a Canadian forensic pathologist. He concluded that this was consistent with the official cause of death: driving too fast. It follows from Mapanje's life world that, after the demise of Banda and Tembo, he sees no evil anymore. For example, he writes about Banda's successor, Bakili Muluzi: ‘For most people the burden of corruption in high places seemed to have been lightened by Muluzi's personal charm and the humour which characterised his personal rallies’ (p. 431). Such opinions may have existed in Muluzi's early days, albeit that I did not hear them. At the end of his rule however, it was commonly believed that Muluzi had been very corrupt and that he had been ruthless towards political opponents. The book was published in 2011 and therefore there could have been some reflection on such matters.

Finally, it should be stressed that Banda and Tembo should not be exonerated from heading a brutal totalitarian regime; but neither is it elucidating to locate all responsibility in this small group. The importance of this book is that these questions are raised: it gives an inside view of how a Malawian looked at political culture in the Banda years. That is very valuable and the abovementioned issues do not diminish in any way the book's value as testimony.