Review: Poor Story by Giles Bolton

Jane Goode reviews the ex-DFID worker, Giles Bolton's debut book, Poor Story.

Giles Bolton: Poor Story Giles Bolton ''References to popular films such as Hotel Rwanda and The Constant Gardener provide a useful springboard for discussions about the difference between the West’s understanding, and what is really going on in Africa.''

As if we need another book about Africa and globalisation, right? We know the arguments, the gambits, and the angles. Wrong.

Cue Poor Story - ex-aid worker Giles Bolton's first book due out in April 2007. Bolton uses many clever devices to convey the enormity of the problem in Africa. One is to elect you, the reader, as president of newly created African country, Uzima. Your task is to understand and tackle extreme poverty from the inside, from top to bottom and back again, with the help of advisors and, of course, aide Giles Bolton. It is a humbling experience.

For this reason the book makes accessible the crucial debates facing impoverished African countries today, and because of its accessibility it's particularly suited to young people involved in activism.

Bolton answers simple questions like: "Why can't Africa help itself," with the same patience and dexterity as the infinitely more complicated issues such as the logistics of funding international aid programmes and deciding who this aid goes to.

All the while he bolsters his hypothetical models with facts, figures and case studies from the people he met while working for the Department for International Development (DFID).

Poor Story is a perfect follow-up to works such as the State of Africa by Martin Meredith, which are heavy on historical content but do little to help the reader understand the complex choices facing developing countries.

For me - someone who is aware of the general issues but by no means a master of the mechanics of globalisation - I did find myself lost at points. However, where my understanding failed me, my curiosity was provoked sufficiently to begin my own research. Also, references to popular films such as Hotel Rwanda and The Constant Gardener provide a useful springboard for discussions about the difference between the West's understanding, and what is really going on in Africa.

Those with a lot of prior knowledge may find a few points tedious but I feel there is enough frank discussion of potential solutions to satisfy the most scholarly of economists and international policy academics. Having said this, in my opinion, the people who are going to get the most out of this book are students and young people interested in international development.

Engaging, absorbing and enlightening - everyone interested, from the aid worker to the armchair activist, should invest in this book.

If Poor Story doesn't win your heart and mind to the cause of ending extreme poverty, nothing else will.