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The State of Africa

by Martin Meredith
£10.99   paperback  Simon & Schuster (2006)

The State of Africa by Martin Meredith The fortunes of Africa have changed dramatically in the years since the independence era began. As Europe's colonial powers withdrew, dozens of new states were launched amid much jubilation and to the world's applause. The circumstances seemed auspicious. Independence came in the midst of an economic boom. On the world stage, African states excited the attention of the world's rival power blocs: in the Cold War era, Africa was considered too valuable a prize to lose.
 
Today, Africa is spoken of only in pessimistic terms. The sum of its misfortunes - its wars, its depotisms, its corruption, its droughts - is truly daunting. No other area of the world arouses such a sense of foreboding, and few states have managed to escape the downward spiral.
 
What went wrong? How did Howard Macmillan's 'wind of change' turn into Tony Blair's 'scar on the conscience of the world'? What happened to this vast continent, so rich in resources, culture and history, to bring it so close to destitution and despair in the space of two generations?
 
Focusing on the key personalities, events and themes of the independence era, Martin Meredith's magisterial history seeks to explore and explain the myriad problems that Africa has faced in the last half-century, and faces still. From the giddy enthusiasm of the 1960s to the 'coming of tyrants' and rapid decline, The State of Africa is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how it came to this - and what, if anything, is to be done.

ISBN 13: 9780743232227 | ISBN 10: 0743232224

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