Nicolas van de Walle

In this political history of Africa since the 1950s, Young reviews the political science literature on such important issues as the legacy of colonialism, the reasons why African states turned autocratic soon after independence, and the best ways to assess their performance since then. Unlike similar books, Young’s considers the areas north and south of the Sahara, focusing on the political and diplomatic links between the two, as well as their common history.

Policymakers and students of African political economy have long wondered why more African governments have not done a better job of promoting investment by the private sector and what factors differentiate the minority of countries that have enjoyed good relations with business. Both of these books shed light on this question by emphasizing political processes rather than ideology or economic policy.

How does the son of farmers from Benin become a professor of political science at Princeton University? A natural aptitude for mathematics, fostered by Benin’s surprisingly good rural primary schools, obviously helped Wantchékon. Wantchékon captures well the disillusionment of a generation of his compatriots as the promise of independence was overwhelmed by economic crisis and political repression. After being arrested, tortured, and imprisoned in northern Benin, Wantchékon managed to escape to Nigeria, then immigrated as a political refugee to Canada, where he discovered economics and began his ascent in North American academia. Disarmingly candid and generous to friend and foe alike, this book will leave readers with a smile.

The remarkably prolific Ellis has written a fascinating history of the internal politics of the African National Congress (ANC) in the 30 years during which it was banned in South Africa and was forced to operate from bases outside the country. Ellis’ research suggests that the South African Communist Party enjoyed a higher degree of influence on the ANC's decision-making than has been acknowledged by the ANC's leadership.

Foster emphasizes the differences between an older generation of black elites steeped in the discipline of the struggle against apartheid and a younger generation that views South Africa in more cosmopolitan terms and is less interested in politics than in pop music and designer clothes.

In March 1896, the Ethiopian army, led by Emperor Menelik II, decisively defeated the Italian army near the town of Adwa, in northern Ethiopia, just south of today’s Eritrean border. Jonas tells the story well, aided by the presence of colorful characters, such as Menelik’s fiery wife, Empress Taytu, and the Italian officers whose bumbling ensured their own defeat.

The increased Chinese attention to Africa has been one of the region’s big stories during the last decade, not least because it seemed to come just as the West was losing interest in the continent. Shinn and Eisenman’s book usefully situates this development in a broad historical context, showing important areas of continuity with earlier Sino-African links.

Jagielski's semifictional account of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army paints a bleak picture of northern Uganda, where Kony’s rebellion has scarred the population and corroded the Ugandan army and state.

Beginning with the observation that the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was made with uranium from a mine in what was then the Belgian Congo, Hecht explores the role of Africa in the development of military and civilian nuclear energy since World War II.

Equipped with an impressive command of the different struggles that have ravaged the region, Williams has written a superb overview of this complex subject without resorting to academic jargon. It deserves to be read by novices and specialists alike.

These two books deserve to be read by anyone interested in Africa's HIV/AIDS crisis.

Waugh has written a splendid biography of one of the most fascinating figures in recent African history.