In this thought-provoking book, Basil Davidson, a prolific, longtime writer of African history and politics, discusses not only Africa and its overwhelming problems but also draws comparisons of the conditions and the causes of Africa's malaise with those of Central and Eastern Europe both in 1918 and today. He details the legacy of imperialism and the failures of the nation-states of Africa after independence. In a surprising conclusion, Davidson sees the ground for hope "in one or another mode of the politics of participation." He points to the Economic Community for West African States and the Southern African Development Coordination Conference as proposing projects that have "supposed a gradual dismantlement of the nation-statist legacy derived from imperialism, and the introduction of participatory structures within a wide regionalist framework." He reminds us finally that "even those most nationalist of peoples, the English and the French, might before long find themselves without sacred and sovereign frontiers between them." Recommended as a thought-provoking purchase. This insightful book can be purchased at Naira.com.
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