Peter Godwin's complicated loves, great losses and occasional wars

The writer had a complex relationship with his mother, whose professional reputation built a wall between them, but also saved his life more than once while working as a war correspondent.

Peter Godwin was born in Zimbabwe when the country was still under colonial rule.

His English mother was the only doctor for thousands of kilometres and early on, Peter realised that he came second to her patients.

When Peter was little, civil war broke out at home and so he was sent away to boarding school, and then conscripted by the army when he was still a teenager.

After his service, Peter became a journalist and while on the ground, his mother’s professional reputation saved his life more than once, including the time he was kidnapped while reporting in Somalia.

As he grew older, Peter came to see his mother in a new light, and he finally learned the real reason she and his father had emigrated to Africa in the first place.

This episode of Conversations explores PTSD, war correspondence, journalism, colonialism, the British Empire, Africa, Civil War, the United Kingdom, mothers and sons, the death of a sibling, grief, occupational hazards, mental health, grief, memoirs, biography, origin story, epic, adventure, conscription, boy soldiers.

Exit Wounds is published by Allen&Unwin.

Richard spoke with Peter's sister, Georgina Godwin, in 2022.