The Mayor of Mogadishu: A Story of Chaos and Redemption in the Ruins of Somalia

About this book

"This is a triumph of a book: surprising informative and humane." Alexander McCall Smith "Stunning." Foreign Affairs "Pieces together Nurs astonishing biography and follows him when he became mayor in 2010 and tried to restore confidence and bring back investment to the battered Somali capital." NPR Part on-the-ground war reporting part investigative biography Hardings book captures both the fragile hopes and the appalling violence of Somalia . . . . The New York Times A Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2017 One of Book Concierges Best Books of 2016 In The Mayor of Mogadishu one of the BBCs most experienced foreign correspondents Andrew Harding reveals the tumultuous life of Mohamoud Tarzan Nur - an impoverished nomad who was abandoned in a state orphanage in newly independent Somalia and became a street brawler and activist. When the country collapsed into civil war and anarchy Tarzan and his young family became part of an exodus eventually spending twenty years in north London. But in 2010 Tarzan returned as Mayor to the unrecognizable ruins of a city now almost entirely controlled by the Islamist militants of Al Shabab. For many in Mogadishu and in the diaspora Tarzan became a galvanizing symbol of courage and hope for Somalia. But for others he was a divisive thug who sank beneath the corruption and clan rivalries that continue today to threaten the countrys revival. The Mayor of Mogadishu is a rare an insiders account of Somalias unraveling and an intimate portrayal of one familys extraordinary journey.