The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence
by Martin Meredith

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Book Reviews of The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence

Book Review: Essential Nonfiction Reading
Summary: 5 Stars

The author has written the present book that covers the last fifty years in detail, but really it covers most coutries farther back with many references going back to the mid 19th century and earlier. This is a comprehensive 700 page book in medium to small font and I think it takes a few weeks to read and absorb all the details. He has a very brief introduction with historical maps of Africa and it is followed up with about ten pages of notes and comments at the back of the book, plus a number of references for further reading. I have just begun to read the book, but I have skimmed most of the book briefly to get an overall grasp of the writings. He goes through essentially every country in Africa from the north to the south tip, east to west, country by country, decade by decade describing colonial intrusions, resource and country trading by the big colonial powers, revolution, dictatorships, wars, military actions, famines, economic disasters, racism, and on and on.

He has 35 chapters divided into four broad catagories: colonialism and revolution, consolidation and revolution, developments and failures, and then the modern era. Those four section titles are my inventions, not his, to simplify the book and the 35 chapters. The divisions in the book are a bit more complicated with many subjects overlapping time periods and countries, and I am simplifying here.

The chapters tend to run in parallel, rather than simple chronological order. He starts out with Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972)the preseident of Ghana elected in 1957 with the new independence. It was British West Africa, a colony part of the "Gold Coast". He then goes on to Egypt and King Farouk (1920-1965) who was thrown out in a 1952 military coup led by Nasser. By the way, the coup took place while Farouk was at the gambling tables, living the carefree high life, and he dismissed the idea of the coup when his entertainment was briefly interrupted by a telephone call from his foreign minister who reported the coup. He goes on to cover Algeria and France's abandonment of the colony to the independence movement, and he covers the flight of the non Muslims back to France. He goes through most of the countries discussing the politics, the leaders, the history, the corruption, and where we are today.

If you can digest the boook, you will in effect know the modern history of Africa in detail, and you will be able to understand the myriad of map changes, tribal rivalries, etc. He has three sets of black and white pictures that show the flight from Rwanda, the corruption of Zimbabwe, and they reference the leaders of the Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, etc. We see pictures of many famous leaders from South Africa to Gadaffi, some shaking hands with Bush or dancing with Queen Elizabeth. We learn what colonial power dominated what region, when there was an overthrow of the colonials, who took charge, how the government evolved, and who were the people that have run and now run each country.

Truly an impressive book.

Clearly 5 stars.

History Books

• Nonfiction