Africa is forever on our TV screens, but the bad-news stories (famine, genocide, corruption) massively outweigh the good (South Africa). Ever since the process of de-colonialisation began in the mid-1950s, and arguably before, the continent has appeared to be stuck in a process of irreversible decline. Constant war, improper use of natural resources and misappropriation of revenues and aid monies contribute to an impression of a continent beyond hope. How did we get here? What, if anything, is to be done? Fully revised and updated and weaving together the key stories and characters of the last sixty years into a stunningly compelling and coherent narrative, Martin Meredith has produced the definitive history of how European ideas of how to organise 10,000 different ethnic groups has led to what Tony Blair described as the 'scar on the conscience of the world'. Authoritative, provocative and consistently fascinating, this is the updated edition of the seminal book on one of the most important issues facing the West today.
The State of Africa
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'This descent from liberatory euphoria to the heart of darkness is all too symbolic of what Africa has gone through since independence, and it is this that Meredith chronicles in a series of often vivid country snapshots ... Meredith is a sure guide to this colossal, sad story R W Johnson, SUNDAY TIMES 'As a popular introduction to the subject it could hardly be bettered' Daily Telegraph 11/06 'A clear-sighted examination of Africa's plight... Contrary to the simplistic view of those who prefer to lash the West for its mishandling of the continent, there is a vast amount only Africa can put right' Daily Telegraph 18/6 'In Africa the past does matter. It explains the present and no one is going to move anywhere without it. That is why this book is important. It's about how we got here. The legions of development missionaries ... should all be given a free copy. This book is also great narrative. Delivered in digestible chunks ... Meredith is at his best telling the story of the rise and fall of each ruler ... Meredith has given a spectacularly clear view of the African political jungle from above' Richard Dowden, SPECTATOR 'As a narrative of Africa's political trajectory since independence, this book is hard to beat. Meredith packs a lot of empirical information into his text without overwhelming his reader. The book is elegantly written as well as unerringly accurate, and despite its considerable length it holds the attention of the reader to the end ... Excellent ... Some of his anecdotes are priceless ... the book is impressive in many ways' Paul Nugent, FINANCIAL TIMES Martin Meredith discussed with Yasmin Alibhai-Brown 'What's wrong with the way Africa and it problems are portrayed in Britain?' Today, BBC Radio 4 1/7 'In the time it takes to watch an all-day pop concert in Hyde Park, anyone looking for an understanding of Africa's problems can and should read Martin Meredith's authoritative analysis of the post-independence continent. The writer, who is as even-handed in this country-by-country history as he was in his biography of Robert Mugabe three years ago, does not fall into the dangerous trap of calling for debt relief or more aid ... If Meredith's conclusion is depressing, his dispassionate analysis does more than perhaps he realises to set the past 50 African years in a continuum' Alex Duval Smith, INDEPENDENT 'Any would-be demonstrator at the G8 summit in Scotland this week should take a look into this harrowing but sober volume. Martin Meredith offers an excellent account of the miseries of modern Africa, relentless in its scope. He gives in his more discursive sections a withering critique of the futility and hypocrisy of Western governments in a continent they have only made darker' Michael Fry, SCOTTISH SUNDAY MAIL 'The Bestselling History Titles in June... No 13. The State of Africa... A highly readable digest of half a century of woes in the cradle of mankind' ECONOMIST 'You cannot even begin to understand contemporary African politics if you have not read this fascinating book' Bob Geldof 'The State of Africa, Meredith's account of four decades of systematic diversion of Africa's wealth to criminal local elites and their accomplices in rich nations, provides a salutary corrective to the current interantional debate, a reminder of how discussions of African countries often lack the thing they most need: a historical perspective... Meredith's historically rooted scepticism may be pessimistic and politically inconvenient, but it is part of a debate that needs to be heard' TLS 4/11 'This magisterial history seeks to explore the myriad problems that Africa has faced in the past half-century, and indeed still faces' Sunday Telegraph 9/4
From the Inside Flap
The fortunes of Africa have changed dramatically in the fifty 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. African leaders stepped forward with energy and enthusiasm to tackle the problems of development and nation-building, boldly proclaiming their hopes of establishing new societies that might offer inspiration to the world at large. 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, the position that each newly independent state adopted in its relations with the West or the East was viewed as a matter of crucial importance. 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 despotisms, its corruption, its droughts – is truly daunting. No other area of the world arouses such a sense of foreboding. Few states have managed to escape the downward spiral: Botswana stands out as a unique example of an enduring multi-party democracy; South Africa, after narrowly avoiding revolution, has emerged in the post-apartheid era as a well-managed democratic state. But most African countries are effectively bankrupt, prone to civil strife, subject to dictatorial rule, weighed down by debt, and heavily dependent on Western assistance for survival.
So what went wrong? How did Harold Macmillan’s ‘winds 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 past half-century, and faces still. From the giddy enthusiasms 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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
64 of 65 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Few writers could do justice to the mammoth task of covering 50 years of the turbulent history of an entire continent in a single volume, but Meredith achieves just that and with considerable power and finesse. The task necessitates skipping between countries and back and forth in time but Meredith manages very successfully to bridge the potential confusion this could have created with themes that run through the post-colonial history of most of the states of Africa. Though there are variations to the theme, most African countries passed from the euphoria and hope of early independence to domination by dictators who justified their single party policies as the only answer to potential tribal conflict. Dictatorships caused unrest, which often lead to coup attempts with the coup leaders promising an end to repression and corruption, but soon falling into the same patterns as their predecessors.
The book is a litany of incompetent government, of insatiable greed and exploitation on the part of leaders and their cronies, of unbelievable power lust and the resulting repression, of megalomaniac leaders with delusions of grandeur, of ludicrous levels of corruption and of the suffering of millions of ordinary people. Meredith's coverage is comprehensive and his style is easy to read. The inclusion of fascinating details about particular events or the personal lives of particular leaders brings the narrative to life. The tales he has to tell are gripping (though horrific) and you will fly through the nearly 700 pages.
Meredith skillfully establishes the historical similarities between almost all African countries. His explanations show only too well how poor leadership and economic management has led to the continent becoming the most desperately poor and underdeveloped region on earth. He leaves it to others, however, to attempt to explain why it is that almost all African countries should have taken such similar and devastatingly violent historical trajectories and why the necessary leadership to break the cycle has not been forthcoming.
The book is a litany of incompetent government, of insatiable greed and exploitation on the part of leaders and their cronies, of unbelievable power lust and the resulting repression, of megalomaniac leaders with delusions of grandeur, of ludicrous levels of corruption and of the suffering of millions of ordinary people. Meredith's coverage is comprehensive and his style is easy to read. The inclusion of fascinating details about particular events or the personal lives of particular leaders brings the narrative to life. The tales he has to tell are gripping (though horrific) and you will fly through the nearly 700 pages.
Meredith skillfully establishes the historical similarities between almost all African countries. His explanations show only too well how poor leadership and economic management has led to the continent becoming the most desperately poor and underdeveloped region on earth. He leaves it to others, however, to attempt to explain why it is that almost all African countries should have taken such similar and devastatingly violent historical trajectories and why the necessary leadership to break the cycle has not been forthcoming.
70 of 72 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Martin Meredith has written en excellent and thoughtful account of Africa's post-independence years. The book is not only well-researched but shows a familiarity with the Continent that is rare among Western commentators on Africa.
It is a stark, panoramic and forensic examination of the Continent. No country is left out. Mr Meredith captures the sense of optimism felt by many Africans at independence by painting real-life portraits of independence leaders like Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Kwame Nkumah of Ghana and Senghor of Senegal. He brings Africa's Big Men into sharp relief. We see Nkrumah's charisma, Nyerere's singled-mindedness, Idi-Amin's savagery, Senghor's diplomacy, Lumuma's intransigience, Awolowo's tribalism and Bokassa's megalomania.
The book chronicles post-colonial Africa as a Cold War playground between the West and The Soviet Union. In Angola, Zaire and Mozambique, Western support for unsavoury leaders was seen as necessary to stop the spread of Communism. This had devastating consequences for the Continent.
On page after page the author documents Africa's woes, backed up with World Bank data: economic decline, gross governmental incompetence, patronage, destruction of civil society, neglect for the rule of law. And all for what?, he asks. So that the elite can buy luxury homes in the South of France and the send their children to Western universities. How true.
What I appreciated most about the book was Mr Meredith's remarkable insight into "African" nature. He does not diminish the African attachment to the tribe as many European writers have done in the past. He observes accurately that tribal loyalty supercedes loyalty to the newly created African nation-states. He does not write out of pity but from genuine empathy with the ordinary African. This style contrasts sharply with other Western writers who seek to impose their arm-chair liberalism on the reader.
He keenly observes that the legacy of colonial rule was not to develop the conquered peoples but to extract the wealth of the country for the benefit of its rulers. It was a legacy that Africa's post-colonial leaders inherited. Mr Meredith concludes that the root cause of Africa's malaise is not lack of resources but a crisis of leadership. It is a view that I, as an African (a Nigerian), concur with.
Forget all you think you know about Africa and read this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
It is a stark, panoramic and forensic examination of the Continent. No country is left out. Mr Meredith captures the sense of optimism felt by many Africans at independence by painting real-life portraits of independence leaders like Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Kwame Nkumah of Ghana and Senghor of Senegal. He brings Africa's Big Men into sharp relief. We see Nkrumah's charisma, Nyerere's singled-mindedness, Idi-Amin's savagery, Senghor's diplomacy, Lumuma's intransigience, Awolowo's tribalism and Bokassa's megalomania.
The book chronicles post-colonial Africa as a Cold War playground between the West and The Soviet Union. In Angola, Zaire and Mozambique, Western support for unsavoury leaders was seen as necessary to stop the spread of Communism. This had devastating consequences for the Continent.
On page after page the author documents Africa's woes, backed up with World Bank data: economic decline, gross governmental incompetence, patronage, destruction of civil society, neglect for the rule of law. And all for what?, he asks. So that the elite can buy luxury homes in the South of France and the send their children to Western universities. How true.
What I appreciated most about the book was Mr Meredith's remarkable insight into "African" nature. He does not diminish the African attachment to the tribe as many European writers have done in the past. He observes accurately that tribal loyalty supercedes loyalty to the newly created African nation-states. He does not write out of pity but from genuine empathy with the ordinary African. This style contrasts sharply with other Western writers who seek to impose their arm-chair liberalism on the reader.
He keenly observes that the legacy of colonial rule was not to develop the conquered peoples but to extract the wealth of the country for the benefit of its rulers. It was a legacy that Africa's post-colonial leaders inherited. Mr Meredith concludes that the root cause of Africa's malaise is not lack of resources but a crisis of leadership. It is a view that I, as an African (a Nigerian), concur with.
Forget all you think you know about Africa and read this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
73 of 78 people found the following review helpful
By P. Bryant
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
Five stars for this plain, urgent, and very comprehensive account of Africa since the colonial powers packed up and left, or were booted out. And as far as I know, this is the only book which covers all of Africa in the last 50 years. But I think readers should be issued with a very strong warning. You have to ask yourselves if you have a strong stomach. Because make no mistake, this is a horror story, and it has left me, after all the Geldoff-inspired euphoria, after the recent debt-cancellations, after all those good words from Blair and Brown, close to despair. Let me give you some examples chosen at random. From page 173 : "President Omar Bongo of Gabon... ordered a new palace for himself with sliding walls and doors, rotating rooms and a private nightclub, costing well over $200 million". From page 273: "The disruption caused by the `villagisation' programme nearly led to catastrophe (in Tanzania). Food production fell drastically, raising the spectre of widespread famine.... Drought compounded the problem." From page 368: "By the mid-1980s most Africans were as poor or poorer than they had been at the time of independence." From page 460: "Over a ten-year period (in Algeria) more than 100,000 people died. Nor was there any end in sight. The violence seemed to suit both sides - the military and the Islamist rebels."
The story of each African country seems to be the same. There is the early promise of independence, the charismatic new leader (it could be Nkrumah or Kenyatta or even Mugabe, of whom Ian Smith, the leader of white Rhodesia, said : "He behaved like a balanced, civilised westerner, the antithesis of the communist gangster I had expected"). There follows corruption and megalomania - palaces built, roads to nowhere commissioned, Swiss bank accounts opened, the president's tribal associates given all the top jobs. The president bans all political parties except his own, because multi-party democracy is not the African way and just plays into the hands of unscrupulous tribal leaders (but of course it is the President himself - and in Africa there has never yet been a herself - who's the biggest player of tribal politics). Then comes twenty - sometimes thirty - years of tyranny, with all political opponents jailed and tortured, and the country bankrupted. Then comes the military coup with the idealistic young military leader declaring a Council of National Salvation and a raft of anti-corruption laws. A few years later, the same young military leader (could be Samuel K Doe of Liberia, could be Yoweri Museweni of Uganda) has turned into a clone of the tyrant he deposed.
Slavery in Africa was followed by colonialism, and once that was ended, by Cold War proxy wars, and once they were over, by Aids. You would think that - plus the endemic disease and drought of course - was enough. But no, Africa suffers from another disease just as debilitating - the infestation of their own "vampire-like" ruling classes. By the end of Martin Meredith's book the horrors were not diminishing. We had had the Rwandan genocide, the children's armies of Liberia (ten year old kids high on cocaine shooting each other with Armalites) and the Lord's Resistance cult in Uganda. Still it goes on. "When Abdou Diouf of Senegal accepted defeat in an election in March 2000 he was only the fourth president to do so in four decades." And again: "The World bank estimates that 40% of Africa's private wealth is held offshore.".
The author leaves no room for any false optimism. I salute every aid agency and every politician willing to even try to improve the dire situation. But if they read this book they will be wondering where to begin.
The story of each African country seems to be the same. There is the early promise of independence, the charismatic new leader (it could be Nkrumah or Kenyatta or even Mugabe, of whom Ian Smith, the leader of white Rhodesia, said : "He behaved like a balanced, civilised westerner, the antithesis of the communist gangster I had expected"). There follows corruption and megalomania - palaces built, roads to nowhere commissioned, Swiss bank accounts opened, the president's tribal associates given all the top jobs. The president bans all political parties except his own, because multi-party democracy is not the African way and just plays into the hands of unscrupulous tribal leaders (but of course it is the President himself - and in Africa there has never yet been a herself - who's the biggest player of tribal politics). Then comes twenty - sometimes thirty - years of tyranny, with all political opponents jailed and tortured, and the country bankrupted. Then comes the military coup with the idealistic young military leader declaring a Council of National Salvation and a raft of anti-corruption laws. A few years later, the same young military leader (could be Samuel K Doe of Liberia, could be Yoweri Museweni of Uganda) has turned into a clone of the tyrant he deposed.
Slavery in Africa was followed by colonialism, and once that was ended, by Cold War proxy wars, and once they were over, by Aids. You would think that - plus the endemic disease and drought of course - was enough. But no, Africa suffers from another disease just as debilitating - the infestation of their own "vampire-like" ruling classes. By the end of Martin Meredith's book the horrors were not diminishing. We had had the Rwandan genocide, the children's armies of Liberia (ten year old kids high on cocaine shooting each other with Armalites) and the Lord's Resistance cult in Uganda. Still it goes on. "When Abdou Diouf of Senegal accepted defeat in an election in March 2000 he was only the fourth president to do so in four decades." And again: "The World bank estimates that 40% of Africa's private wealth is held offshore.".
The author leaves no room for any false optimism. I salute every aid agency and every politician willing to even try to improve the dire situation. But if they read this book they will be wondering where to begin.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Present for my other daughter
She is very interested in Africa and plans to go out there and work sometime she has already visited africa twice
Published 1 month ago by 60's chick
5.0 out of 5 stars
A stunning, comprehensive view of Africa since independence.
Want to know the grusome story of how Africa decended into madness over the last 50 years? This is a good place to start. Read more
Published 8 months ago by godzilla78
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book!!!
A must read book for everyone . The book should be distributed in schools around the world to educate the youths growing up about history and issues that is still affecting Africa... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mickey
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a fantastic read!
This is a fascinating book which gives you excellent insight into the history of most of africa. As he approaches each part of Africa seperately, it is very easy to follow and it's... Read more
Published 13 months ago by edbailey10
5.0 out of 5 stars
State of Africa
Excellent and riveting read. A massive subject to cover but this book is so well written that it makes the subject digestible. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Paulob
5.0 out of 5 stars
SUBSTANTIAL ACHIEVEMENT CAN'T BE DENIED
This is an awesome achievement, pulling together a comprehensive and powerful account of Africa since the vast majority of states started to get independence. Read more
Published 15 months ago by David P. Weber
5.0 out of 5 stars
A present
I bought this book for my sister for Christmas, I have flicked through the book and I think I will be borrowing it!
Published 17 months ago by C. Atkinson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb
It's been a long time since I studied African history, and then it was only up to the end of the colonial period, c1960, so when I came across a good copy of this, and finding... Read more
Published 17 months ago by J. Rottweiller Swinburne
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Deep insight into such a complicated continet. The author lived in Africe as a child so he can compare old Africa to Africa nowadays which makes this book even more valuable. Read more
Published 17 months ago by myvoice
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another world
You have to be crazy to think that Africa is just what you see in the documentaries about wildlife and tribes living in the Sahara desert. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Emiliano
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