Rating: 
Summary: a case-study of a complex topic
Review: As a development industry professional grappling with both the academic and personal conflicts inherent in foreign aid programs, I found this story to be quite interesting on a number of levels. First, it is a good introduction to what foreign aid programs and the lives of the expat directors are really like. It is, as one reviewer said, part travelogue, part textbook-- on the whole, enjoyable. For those more interested in the development business, as it is often derisively called, this book stands in sharp contrast to most others on the subject, which sharply criticize programs of the type described here (Road to Hell, Lords of Poverty). It's nice to read a positive review of one's chosen field from time to time. That said, the author, perhaps unwittingly, damns the efforts of the more prosperous countries more than the others when all is said and done. For after all the surfing stories and tales of friends made, he leaves the country no better than he found it having accomplished nothing at all.
Rating:
Summary: a case-study of a complex topic
Review: As a development industry professional grappling with both the academic and personal conflicts inherent in foreign aid programs, I found this story to be quite interesting on a number of levels. First, it is a good introduction to what foreign aid programs and the lives of the expat directors are really like. It is, as one reviewer said, part travelogue, part textbook-- on the whole, enjoyable. For those more interested in the development business, as it is often derisively called, this book stands in sharp contrast to most others on the subject, which sharply criticize programs of the type described here (Road to Hell, Lords of Poverty). It's nice to read a positive review of one's chosen field from time to time. That said, the author, perhaps unwittingly, damns the efforts of the more prosperous countries more than the others when all is said and done. For after all the surfing stories and tales of friends made, he leaves the country no better than he found it having accomplished nothing at all.
Rating: 
Summary: T.G. makes development leap from the text books
Review: As a student of Africa Klitgaard's book brought me back to the continent with its all too true depiction of how things "really work." It also showed that development is not an over night process but it take generations of dillegent hard work. Klitgaard leaves his readers with a contradiction to ponder. He loves Equatorial Guinea and has worked tirelessly to save it yet he leaves having made only tiny victories.
Rating:
Summary: T.G. makes development leap from the text books
Review: As a student of Africa Klitgaard's book brought me back to the continent with its all too true depiction of how things "really work." It also showed that development is not an over night process but it take generations of dillegent hard work. Klitgaard leaves his readers with a contradiction to ponder. He loves Equatorial Guinea and has worked tirelessly to save it yet he leaves having made only tiny victories.
Rating:
Summary: A highly informative and unique book
Review: It is not very common to find a World Bank economist who writes with a touch of humor, humility and eloquence, but that is exactly what you will discover in this unique book. The author was a World Bank advisor assigned to the tiny African nation of Equatorial Guinea in the late 1980's, a time when many African nations were beginning to flirt with market reforms and economic liberalization. This book is kind of like a personal diary of the time he spent there. It is written in an easygoing, informal style. He alternates between discussing his job- trying to develop an economic strategy that will enable E. Guinea to qualify for a World Bank loan- and discussing his recreational activities, which range from surfboarding to hanging out with African rock stars. He introduces us to many people- government officials, "experts" from the UN and other international organizations, and ordinary Equatoguineans. He seems to be particularly critical of the so-called "experts," many of whom are in this remote backwater merely because "they couldn't find jobs in their own countries." Many economists and other academics seeking a rigorous, theoretical analysis of African political economy might be frustrated by this informal style, but I think it adds an extra dimension to the story of economic reform in the third world. It helps remind us that these structural adjustment policies thought up in Washington D.C. are implement by real people facing real constraints in recipient countries. Klitgaard does an excellent job of relating the pressures faced by well-intentioned (and some not so well-intentioned) government ministers, as they must deal with corruption, apathetic bureaucrats, nasty military officers, and the poor infrastructure found in every developing country. All in all, this is a great read for anybody interested in the troubles facing third-world countries, for anyone curious about why these countries can't seem to get out of their economic malaise. Although it was written in 1991, it seems just as relevant today as it did when it was written.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but less than the title suggests
Review: Perhaps I have a warped perspective because I read Tropical Gangsters around the same time as reading accounts of Congo, Somalia, the Sudan, Rawanda and other African genocides, but Robert Klitgaard's experience in Equatorial Guinea was not all that bad, comparatively speaking. Which is not to say it is an interesting book. But a lot of what he does is office work; put together presentations, have meetings, plan strategies, etc. He does them in interesting surroundings in interesting circumstances, but at the end of the day it is white collar work. And in his spare time he surfs, visits with friends, drives around the country side and so forth. All of which is interesting to read about for most of us. And occasionally there are very low key coup attempts and a couple of people he knows are arrested and tortured. But it is unclear who the "gangsters" he refers to are; most of the people in the Equatoguinean government he works with seem honest and eager to get his help in furthering economic development. He does not personally experience any of the outrageous examples of corruption you read about in the context of other African countries. For comparative purposes, try "In the Footsteps of Mister Kurtz" about Zaire/Congo, which shows how bad things really could be.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but less than the title suggests
Review: This is really an excellent book on all levels and I am very glad to have found it. As a former Peace Corps Volunteer I could empathize with the author's trials and tribulations in trying to pull off some development work in a badly mis-governed country as well as his obvious liking and best wishes for the people he met. From this book you get a very clear and down-to-earth picture of a) Equatorial Guinea, one of the forgotten corners of the world, b)the development game played by donors and recipients, experts, expats, local bureaucrats and dictator's toadies and c) the problems the world, collectively, faces because poorer countries need help but richer countries don't really know how to deliver it. I finished the book wondering, as ever, if the whole development game is hopeless in all countries with autocratic or kleptocratic rulers who care not a whit for the welfare of their own people. "Gangsters" exist amongst the Western aid people too, they are not endemic merely in the Third World. The author was most certainly not one of them. TROPICAL GANGSTERS is a clear, well-written book, one of the best on the development process I have ever seen. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Best book ever written on Equatorial Guinea
Review: This is really an excellent book on all levels and I am very glad to have found it. As a former Peace Corps Volunteer I could empathize with the author's trials and tribulations in trying to pull off some development work in a badly mis-governed country as well as his obvious liking and best wishes for the people he met. From this book you get a very clear and down-to-earth picture of a) Equatorial Guinea, one of the forgotten corners of the world, b)the development game played by donors and recipients, experts, expats, local bureaucrats and dictator's toadies and c) the problems the world, collectively, faces because poorer countries need help but richer countries don't really know how to deliver it. I finished the book wondering, as ever, if the whole development game is hopeless in all countries with autocratic or kleptocratic rulers who care not a whit for the welfare of their own people. "Gangsters" exist amongst the Western aid people too, they are not endemic merely in the Third World. The author was most certainly not one of them. TROPICAL GANGSTERS is a clear, well-written book, one of the best on the development process I have ever seen. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Better not to tell what you saw
Review: This was the cheer statement of an old spanish allien in EG: "people in your country is not going to believe you, they'll tell you're crazy man! Surely he knew all the characters of this amazing book. I did too. I've been ther six months after Bobs departure,and spent two years inside this contradictory scenary of beauty and madness; one of my collegues in a UN Project was this fascinating woman CHA-CHA (or what rhitm it was?)Well for someone who has not been there this could not count as histories about Mr. Kurtz or worst, but all i can said is: being there is living in permanent fear no matter how far your white collar work is from the crude day to day reality of this people. Bob surely did an excelent work, but damn! why not try to surf across the "filariasis" waters of the Malabo coast? Thanks Bob, for remind me some of the better experiences in my life, those that help to know the worth of living in a developing country with all of his ups and downs but surely better as happily I'm now. Finally I'm happy for not catching malaria in those long years. A record! The book tells the truth, but I know there are many worst things that hardly one could see or tell. Want some more? I'll tell you about Andrew, a young and handsome british consultor being beaten on his barefeet by Malabo's police -headed by the strong police chief and Obiang's brother, - his fault was showing off at a Malabo disco bar.The reaction in the UN context was: "don't make waves". Want to know more about "etiopia"? You wouldn't believe it, you'd tell I'm Crazy. Cheers Bob!
Rating:
Summary: Better not to tell what you saw
Review: This was the cheer statement of an old spanish allien in EG: "people in your country is not going to believe you, they'll tell you're crazy man! Surely he knew all the characters of this amazing book. I did too. I've been ther six months after Bobs departure,and spent two years inside this contradictory scenary of beauty and madness; one of my collegues in a UN Project was this fascinating woman CHA-CHA (or what rhitm it was?)Well for someone who has not been there this could not count as histories about Mr. Kurtz or worst, but all i can said is: being there is living in permanent fear no matter how far your white collar work is from the crude day to day reality of this people. Bob surely did an excelent work, but damn! why not try to surf across the "filariasis" waters of the Malabo coast? Thanks Bob, for remind me some of the better experiences in my life, those that help to know the worth of living in a developing country with all of his ups and downs but surely better as happily I'm now. Finally I'm happy for not catching malaria in those long years. A record! The book tells the truth, but I know there are many worst things that hardly one could see or tell. Want some more? I'll tell you about Andrew, a young and handsome british consultor being beaten on his barefeet by Malabo's police -headed by the strong police chief and Obiang's brother, - his fault was showing off at a Malabo disco bar.The reaction in the UN context was: "don't make waves". Want to know more about "etiopia"? You wouldn't believe it, you'd tell I'm Crazy. Cheers Bob!
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