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Inside Africa
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
952 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
About the author
John Gunther
93 books602 followersJohn Gunther was one of the best known and most admired journalists of his day, and his series of "Inside" books, starting with Inside Europe in 1936, were immensely popular profiles of the major world powers. One critic noted that it was Gunther's special gift to "unite the best qualities of the newspaperman and the historian." It was a gift that readers responded to enthusiastically. The "Inside" books sold 3,500,000 copies over a period of thirty years.
While publicly a bon vivant and modest celebrity, Gunther in his private life suffered disappointment and tragedy. He and Frances Fineman, whom he married in 1927, had a daughter who died four months after her birth in 1929. The Gunthers divorced in 1944. In 1947, their beloved son Johnny died after a long, heartbreaking fight with brain cancer. Gunther wrote his classic memoir Death Be Not Proud, published in 1949, to commemorate the courage and spirit of this extraordinary boy. Gunther remarried in 1948, and he and his second wife, Jane Perry Vandercook, adopted a son.
While publicly a bon vivant and modest celebrity, Gunther in his private life suffered disappointment and tragedy. He and Frances Fineman, whom he married in 1927, had a daughter who died four months after her birth in 1929. The Gunthers divorced in 1944. In 1947, their beloved son Johnny died after a long, heartbreaking fight with brain cancer. Gunther wrote his classic memoir Death Be Not Proud, published in 1949, to commemorate the courage and spirit of this extraordinary boy. Gunther remarried in 1948, and he and his second wife, Jane Perry Vandercook, adopted a son.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 28, 2023
When I picked this up off my shelf, finally mentally prepared to tackle it, I imagined it to be a book of around 500 pages, judging by the spine thickness. The gossamer thin pages however make this a book of almost 960 pages! As such, this has taken a while to get through, with some diversions into other books. Published in 1955 it captures much of Africa in a transition from colonial rule to independence (for better or worse - both are demonstrated), and a glance at the various maps show how very different the borders and collections of countries were administered from today.
Gunther has written a load of books, including a number of the Inside... series, Inside Africa appears to be the largest, as one might expect when it comes to summarising this continent of variation. From the Sahara in the north, the rainforests of the Congo Basin in Central Africa, the Ethiopian highlands and other mountain ranges, the various rivers and lakes and the savanna of east and southern Africa. And that is just the geography.
I am paraphrasing, but near the start Gunther says this is not a book about his travels in Africa, but a description of the contemporary history and politics of Africa. There is however a lot of his travel through the many countries, and for me these were some of the most interesting parts! With an undertaking such as this book it can't be a literal snapshot in time. As I understand it Gunther visited all the places he writes about - so it can't be a magical summary as at 1954 (published 1955) - it is the culmination of information gathering and trips to Africa in 1926, 1929, 1936 and 1943, then he spend 1952-53. He says of the 44 countries or political sub-divisions of the time he visited 'most, including all those important', which is good enough for me. It is simplistic to say that in Africa there is always something afoot - but there are defiantly some interesting things happening at the time this book was published.
I started out writing a few notes about each country - they are below in a spoiler, as they quickly got out of hand, and I know my reviews are often painfully long under normal circumstances, without this effort!
Rather than a few sentences bout each, I will paraphrase what Gunther says about each of the colonial powers in place in Africa at the time of writing:
France - French policy is based on assimilation, ie in the long run to make Africans Frenchmen.
Britain - British objective is to train the Africans for complete self-government, within the Commonwealth.
Belgium - Which means the Belgian Congo -Gunther says the essence of the Belgian system is to buy off discontent by giving economic opportunity. There seems to be a disconnect with the Belgians in this book - Gunther seems overwhelmingly positive in spite of the horrendous treatment dished out to the locals.
Portugal - Portuguese policy seems to consist of keeping them from any modern advancements, and retaining slave labour.
Spain - (Spanish Morocco, Spanish Sahara (Western Sahara), Spanish Guinea (Equatorial Guinea).) Spanish Morocco is the only of the three which gets more than a few sentences. Spanish Morocco is heavily militarised, and doesn't really get a short summary from Gunther.
While Gunther does go off on various tangents, hr does provide some basics for each - size relative to other countries and/or states of USA, the population (incl a split between Europeans and natives) and a description of the system of rule.
I found this a far more interesting read than I had perhaps expected. It did need some skimming when the politics got too dull, and the interviews too long. It certainly helped backfill some colonial history I was a bit vague on, and some parts were fascinating.
4 stars
Gunther has written a load of books, including a number of the Inside... series, Inside Africa appears to be the largest, as one might expect when it comes to summarising this continent of variation. From the Sahara in the north, the rainforests of the Congo Basin in Central Africa, the Ethiopian highlands and other mountain ranges, the various rivers and lakes and the savanna of east and southern Africa. And that is just the geography.
I am paraphrasing, but near the start Gunther says this is not a book about his travels in Africa, but a description of the contemporary history and politics of Africa. There is however a lot of his travel through the many countries, and for me these were some of the most interesting parts! With an undertaking such as this book it can't be a literal snapshot in time. As I understand it Gunther visited all the places he writes about - so it can't be a magical summary as at 1954 (published 1955) - it is the culmination of information gathering and trips to Africa in 1926, 1929, 1936 and 1943, then he spend 1952-53. He says of the 44 countries or political sub-divisions of the time he visited 'most, including all those important', which is good enough for me. It is simplistic to say that in Africa there is always something afoot - but there are defiantly some interesting things happening at the time this book was published.
I started out writing a few notes about each country - they are below in a spoiler, as they quickly got out of hand, and I know my reviews are often painfully long under normal circumstances, without this effort!
Rather than a few sentences bout each, I will paraphrase what Gunther says about each of the colonial powers in place in Africa at the time of writing:
France - French policy is based on assimilation, ie in the long run to make Africans Frenchmen.
Britain - British objective is to train the Africans for complete self-government, within the Commonwealth.
Belgium - Which means the Belgian Congo -Gunther says the essence of the Belgian system is to buy off discontent by giving economic opportunity. There seems to be a disconnect with the Belgians in this book - Gunther seems overwhelmingly positive in spite of the horrendous treatment dished out to the locals.
Portugal - Portuguese policy seems to consist of keeping them from any modern advancements, and retaining slave labour.
Spain - (Spanish Morocco, Spanish Sahara (Western Sahara), Spanish Guinea (Equatorial Guinea).) Spanish Morocco is the only of the three which gets more than a few sentences. Spanish Morocco is heavily militarised, and doesn't really get a short summary from Gunther.
While Gunther does go off on various tangents, hr does provide some basics for each - size relative to other countries and/or states of USA, the population (incl a split between Europeans and natives) and a description of the system of rule.
I found this a far more interesting read than I had perhaps expected. It did need some skimming when the politics got too dull, and the interviews too long. It certainly helped backfill some colonial history I was a bit vague on, and some parts were fascinating.
4 stars
October 3, 2017
As soon as you feel the weight of the book in your hands it certainly feels like it's an effort to cover a continent. There is only so much justice nine-hundred pages can do, but it certainly beats Inside Asia, which while not a bad book certainly feels lightweight considering the subject.
John Gunther actually circumnavigated the entire continent of Africa in order to pursue research for this, and once again his timing is uncanny. He gets to travel through the beginning of the Algerian Crisis, the Mau Mau Rebellion, and Apartheid, all related to the wider phenomenon of decolonization and the reduction of European influence throughout the continent. What an perfect time for such an excellent observer to leave behind his record. Gunther's sympathy lies clearly with the nationalists, and even in the end criticizes the U.S. for its middle of the road foreign policy regarding African nationalism, and refers to the Apartheid regime as "in some respects the ugliest government I have ever encountered in the free world." Comparisons to Nazi Germany are almost always hackneyed and dishonest, but considering that Gunther wrote Inside Europe in 1936, I say he gets a pass in this case.
I was very interested in the politics of colonialism. How were they governed? There were only four major colonial powers left in Africa by the time of this book. Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Portugal, and the systems of governance, even the attitudes towards decolonization would vary.
Great Britain at this point seemed to realize that colonialism was over, yet at this point they seemed to simply be trying to postpone the end indefinitely. The more whites in the colony, such as in Rhodesia or Kenya, the more resistance to independence, and arguably the bigger the tensions between Africans and Europeans. The anxiety over terrorism, both from the population and from the government over Mau Mau uprising almost seems contemporary.
France seems to be a bit more reluctant to leave everything behind, is apparently working on assimilating its people and even has black representatives in the French Legislature in Paris! It's pointed out of course that if all of the French colonies would get adequate representation, then
by its sheer advantage in population, the African colonies would then rule France, and it doesn't seem like that was the plan, rather these political concessions were just that, concessions in order to stem the flow of nationalism and anti-colonialism.
Portugal considered its colonies to actually be part of Portugal which considered itself an Afro-European power, and the attitude towards intermarriage was much more open than it was in other European colonies. Africans were free to become fully fledged Portuguese citizens, the catch of course being that very few met the qualifications.
The Belgian Congo, no longer suffering under the reign of terror that still lives on in popular imagination, now struggles to develop its natural resources, in what was then at least a rich but relatively underpopulated land. White immigration is discouraged to prevent the racial tensions suffered by the British colonies, and white settlers get as much political rights as natives, which is to say none. "The European community in the Congo...must be the largest group of white people totally devoid of voting power anywhere in the free world"
Of course even by this point there were independent countries on the continent. You will get to feel the presence of men like Nasser and Haile Selassie, fully knowing that they're at the head of a new age.
There will be the typical geographic and anthropological color a reader of John Gunther is accustomed to. He doesn't like describing places that he hasn't visited and goes to the extent of apparently being the the first non-Portuguese to ever ask the government to visit the Fort of St. John he Baptist off the coast of Morocco
He loves interviewing major figures himself, and in fact my major criticism of the book is that too many pages were spent detailing the time Gunther spent with Dr. Albert Schweitzer.
Nonetheless overall an excellent book, which while showing its age, manages to nonetheless serve as a valuable historical record, an insight into a crucial period in the continent's history.
John Gunther actually circumnavigated the entire continent of Africa in order to pursue research for this, and once again his timing is uncanny. He gets to travel through the beginning of the Algerian Crisis, the Mau Mau Rebellion, and Apartheid, all related to the wider phenomenon of decolonization and the reduction of European influence throughout the continent. What an perfect time for such an excellent observer to leave behind his record. Gunther's sympathy lies clearly with the nationalists, and even in the end criticizes the U.S. for its middle of the road foreign policy regarding African nationalism, and refers to the Apartheid regime as "in some respects the ugliest government I have ever encountered in the free world." Comparisons to Nazi Germany are almost always hackneyed and dishonest, but considering that Gunther wrote Inside Europe in 1936, I say he gets a pass in this case.
I was very interested in the politics of colonialism. How were they governed? There were only four major colonial powers left in Africa by the time of this book. Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Portugal, and the systems of governance, even the attitudes towards decolonization would vary.
Great Britain at this point seemed to realize that colonialism was over, yet at this point they seemed to simply be trying to postpone the end indefinitely. The more whites in the colony, such as in Rhodesia or Kenya, the more resistance to independence, and arguably the bigger the tensions between Africans and Europeans. The anxiety over terrorism, both from the population and from the government over Mau Mau uprising almost seems contemporary.
France seems to be a bit more reluctant to leave everything behind, is apparently working on assimilating its people and even has black representatives in the French Legislature in Paris! It's pointed out of course that if all of the French colonies would get adequate representation, then
by its sheer advantage in population, the African colonies would then rule France, and it doesn't seem like that was the plan, rather these political concessions were just that, concessions in order to stem the flow of nationalism and anti-colonialism.
Portugal considered its colonies to actually be part of Portugal which considered itself an Afro-European power, and the attitude towards intermarriage was much more open than it was in other European colonies. Africans were free to become fully fledged Portuguese citizens, the catch of course being that very few met the qualifications.
The Belgian Congo, no longer suffering under the reign of terror that still lives on in popular imagination, now struggles to develop its natural resources, in what was then at least a rich but relatively underpopulated land. White immigration is discouraged to prevent the racial tensions suffered by the British colonies, and white settlers get as much political rights as natives, which is to say none. "The European community in the Congo...must be the largest group of white people totally devoid of voting power anywhere in the free world"
Of course even by this point there were independent countries on the continent. You will get to feel the presence of men like Nasser and Haile Selassie, fully knowing that they're at the head of a new age.
There will be the typical geographic and anthropological color a reader of John Gunther is accustomed to. He doesn't like describing places that he hasn't visited and goes to the extent of apparently being the the first non-Portuguese to ever ask the government to visit the Fort of St. John he Baptist off the coast of Morocco
He loves interviewing major figures himself, and in fact my major criticism of the book is that too many pages were spent detailing the time Gunther spent with Dr. Albert Schweitzer.
Nonetheless overall an excellent book, which while showing its age, manages to nonetheless serve as a valuable historical record, an insight into a crucial period in the continent's history.
June 29, 2007
A country-by-country account of Africia in the 1950's when Africa was still under colonia rule. He is able to describe the unfamiliar by using familiar references and he beautifully describes details. What I found interesting is some of the conclusions Mr. Gunther draws are still relevant today: Africa needs education, not wepons and we must not ignore Africa. After all of this time the situation in Africa have, in some respects, gotten worse.
July 13, 2025
This is the longest and best of John Gunther's INSIDE books, and, strange though it may seem, the most objectionable too. Pro-colonialist? Yes. Soft-core racist? Yes, with a paternalistic touch towards Africans. Naive? Yes. Gunther was dumb enough to swallow Emperor Haile Selassie's big lie that he was "a reformer pitted against the backwardness of his own country". Worth reading? Absolutely. Published in 1956 after a year of research from Morocco to South Africa, Kenya to Senegal, INSIDE AFRICA was incredibly prescient of both the decline of colonialism and the broken promises that followed. Gunther's heroes, besides His Imperial Majesty, include Nasser of Egypt and Nkrumah of Ghana. His villains are the whites of South Africa, "the greatest danger to the white man Africa has ever known, for they will make all Blacks anti-white"and the French, "if God ever made a worse colonizer than the French, he hasn't let me in on it". Then there are the strange interludes in Gunther's sweeping narrative. A visit with Herr Doktor Albert Schweitzer in French Equatorial Africa revealing his distaste for African nationalism and treating his Black wards like children, a stop in "wacky, weird, sui generis" Liberia, ruled by descendants of African slaves who are very color conscious. A wonderful, rewarding read provided one knows what is coming up over Gunther's horizon---African freedom.
July 20, 2020
Definitely a good book. Does the continent justice. Gunther is a very lucid writer and this never felt like a slog. Interesting mix of anthropology, geography, culture and politics. Gunther’s predictions of the development of the continent in the future are often laughable. People who he views as great men often turned out in reality to be brutal thugs and Africa fell far behind his predictions.
April 14, 2013
Very interesting book. Was written in 1955 and refects Africa at that time. Gunther traveled throughout Africa and wrote about what he saw. It is interesting now to look back and see what has changed and what hasn't.
July 18, 2008
a nice dated approach - how we found the dark continent in the 1950's. good for it's own history.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews