Simukai Chigudu, The Political Life of an Epidemic: cholera, crisis and citizenship in Zimbabwe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (hb £78.99 – 978 1 108 48910 2; pb £26.99 – 978 1 108 73344 1). 2020, v + 230 pp.

Historical and political decisions (by both colonial and postcolonial states), including urban planning defined by racial segregation and spatial inequalities, failed public health infrastructure, and the postcolonial government’s struggle to maintain political power ‘converged to create a “perfect storm” for a ruinous cholera outbreak’ (p. 86). [...]Chigudu discusses what he terms ‘multiple ontologies’ to show the different forms, experiences and meanings the cholera epidemic took. [...]the exploration of historical memory and political subjectivities generated by the epidemic illustrates political consciousness amidst feelings of abandonment by the state.