“It was a good thing to be an African. There were terrible things that happened in Africa, things that brought shame and despair when one thought about them, but that was not all there was in Africa. However great the suffering of the people of Africa, however harrowing the cruelty and chaos brought about by soldiers—small boys with guns, really—there was still so much in Africa from which one could take real pride. There was the kindness, for example, and the ability to smile, and the art and the music.”

Rhodesian, Zimbabwean, and Scottish legal scholar and novelist

Sir Alexander McCall Smith is a Rhodesian, Zimbabwean, and Scottish legal scholar and writer of fiction. Born and raised in Southern Rhodesia, he taught medical law at the University of Edinburgh and built a career in law and bioethics before becoming widely known as a novelist. He became an expert in medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees in those fields. He is best known as the creator of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, and his fiction has sold widely in English and been translated into many languages.