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

by Martin Meredith

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recommended for: History junkies and everyone with an interest in Africa

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Nathan said: " There are history books written by historians, and there are history books written by journalists. Martin Meredith is first and foremost a journalist, and this book focuses on telling stories and bringing the expansive personalities of African big me There are history books written by historians, and there are history books written by journalists. Martin Meredith is first and foremost a journalist, and this book focuses on telling stories and bringing the expansive personalities of African big men to the fore. Yet Meredith doesn't skimp on the statistics and the "hard facts," although I do wish he had a few more citations. And many of the standard criticisms of history can be leveled against this work: it tells the story of the elite, and covers less on the commoners; hardly any women are mentioned. It is the story of African political leadership and conflict, though, and in that, this work excels. If you want a complete understanding of how Africa came to be so poor and so prone to violence, this book is indispensable.

Meredith doesn't dwell on colonialism, and hardly mentions the slave trade. It doesn't try to pin all of Africa's woes on nefarious westerners, a tropical climate, or any other factory beyond its control. It certainly does not let European and American leaders off the hook, but they play supporting roles, complicit in the massacres and economic disasters rather than instigating them. So The Fate of Africa may offend some who want to see Africans as victims.

The stories that come out of this book are the stories, mostly, of brilliant but brutal men, charismatic leaders who emerge from chaos (first at independence, but then later in the wake of coup after coup) and use all means at their disposal to exert their will. He tears apart heroes like Nkrumah, Nyerere, Senghor, and Houphouët-Boigny, exposing their follies and their autocratic tendencies. He recalls, in detail, so many ugly and horrific occurrences that by halfway through you'll find yourself saying, "Well, only 20,000 died. That's not so bad." And the story you'll find is that African leaders have, since independence, been primarily responsible for the suffering of this continent. Which is true.

One final note: this book complements John Reader's book Africa: biography of a continent extraordinarily well. Reader's 700 page masterpiece tells how African cultures developed from the first man to modern times, and highlights all the ways that African cultures have been victimized and misunderstood by the West. Meredith picks up where Reader left off, taking another 700 pages to explain how, for the last 50 years, African leaders have failed their peoples. ...more "

May 13, 2007 04:06AM · see review