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Martin Meredith
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The Fate of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence Paperback – Illustrated, September 6, 2011

by Martin Meredith (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 304 ratings
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The definitive story of African nations after they emerged from colonialism -- from Mugabe's doomed kleptocracy to Mandela's inspiring defeat of apartheid.

The Fate of Africa has been hailed by reviewers as "A masterpiece....The nonfiction book of the year" (The New York Post); "a magnificent achievement" (Weekly Standard); "a joy," (Wall Street Journal) and "one of the decade's most important works on Africa" (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Spanning the full breadth of the continent, from the bloody revolt in Algiers against the French to Zimbabwe's civil war, Martin Meredith's classic history focuses on the key personalities, events and themes of the independence era, and explains the myriad problems that Africa has faced in the past half-century. It covers recent events like the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the controversy over Western aid, the exploitation of Africa's resources, and the growing importance and influence of China.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    816 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    PublicAffairs
  4. Publication date
    September 6, 2011
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 2.5 x 9.45 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1610390717
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1610390712
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Though today an independent scholar, Meredith was one of those now-too-rare journalists who knew his beat intimately, having lived on and off (mostly on) in Africa for 40 years, informing a keen and humane mind with all things African. It shows here in the depth and fluid familiarity of his narrative, light on its feet for so wildly complex a picture. Meredith isn't afraid of venturing an opinion, but what he dines on are basic realities: who did what when, and the consequences. These he spreads before his readers, for them to draw their own, now also informed, conclusions."
―San Francisco Chronicle

"For the author, even organizing this information is a hugely daunting job. How can such vast amounts of information be analyzed for the reader? One way was to follow parallel developments in different places-which is more or less how Mr. Meredith works, with attention to the hair-trigger ways in which one coup or crisis could set off subsequent disasters. He is able to steer the book firmly without compromising its hard-won clarity."
―New York Times

"The Fate of Africa is a comprehensive, wonderfully readable survey of the entire continent's recent past. . . . Blessed with a strong, clean prose style, the author has delivered a work that offers an education in one volume and, despite its length, the book maintains the pace of an artful novel. . . ."―New York Post

"Meredith first traveled up the Nile from Cairo in 1964 as a 21-year-old and claims that, in many ways, his 'African journey has continued ever since.' His careful, detailed analysis, his dispassionate but not detached writing, and his evident wit mean that we might all hope his journey continues for much longer."
―Weekly Standard

"Meredith's exhaustive study appears just as world leaders are finally trying to come to grips with Africa's needs. It starkly underlines the urgency of that task."
―Providence Journal

"In this book [Meredith] provides the most comprehensive description of the causes and consequences of failure in quite a while."―Boston Globe

"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."―Financial Times

About the Author

Martin Meredith is a journalist, biographer, and historian who has written extensively on Africa and its recent history. His previous books include Mandela; Mugabe; Diamonds, Gold, and War; Born in Africa; and The Fate of Africa. He lives near Oxford, England.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ PublicAffairs; Illustrated edition (September 6, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 816 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1610390717
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1610390712
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.87 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 2.5 x 9.45 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 304 ratings

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Martin Meredith

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
304 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Keziah Bentil
5.0 out of 5 stars As an African, I have read through the entire book, including the bibliography.
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2020
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I have read through the entire book, including the bibliography. As an African who is the daughter of Ghanaian parents, this book has given me a better perspective of the history of the continent of Africa. Learning about the history in every area of Africa, from North Africa to South Africa to East Africa and to West Africa. Thank you Martin Meredith for writing and revealing the tumultuous history that Africa has faced.
Africa is a continent with a vibrant culture, filled with resilient people. Africa has the potential to be the most prosperous region of the world due to its vast natural resources that it contains. But unfortunately, the barriers and the obstacles the continent continues to face hinder it from becoming the most prosperous region. Corruption and poverty, in my opinion, are the main obstacles that hinder Africa's prosperity into becoming a world power.
Africa is the region that is known to be the cradle of civilization. Ancient Egypt is known to be the first historical milestone that occurred in Africa and has given people a reason to learn more about the history of the continent and its endeavors. We Africans have the potential to turn our continent into a region filled with opportunities and prosperity. Instead of relying on foreigners to do the work for us, we must do the work ourselves; this does not restrict to only Africans, but the African Diaspora.
My worry is that there are Africans who are skeptical that a white person is writing African history. I understand the skepticism. But if we want to write our own stories as Africans, then we should do it ourselves and not wait for a white person or a non-black person to write our story. It all starts with us. If we don't do it ourselves, then who will write our stories?
I would recommend this book to a friend in a heartbeat who wants to learn about Africa in general. Great book.
9 people found this helpful
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Dalton C. Rocha
5.0 out of 5 stars African history is very terrible and also very fun
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2012
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Here in Brazil, I read this excellent book.
Some great things in this excellent book:
1- In its about 710 pages, this book meticulously charts the history of Africa since its independence, in 1950 decade. Dealing with almost every single country, it shows the Africa's dismal failure. Some passages shows African democracy in the few places where it happened, got good results, see Botswana and Mauritius.
2- This book shows how much Africa has been cursed with corrupt and incompetent tyrants who never cared nothing, for the well being of their people. This rogue's gallery of African despots includes Idi Amin, Bokassa, Mobutu, Julius Nyerere, Banda, Mugabe, Kaunda, Kenyatta, Mengistu, Nasser, Nguema and Nkrumah. While Asia and even Latin America, in the sole case of Chile, got "good despots", African had ever terrible, incompetents, corrupts tyrants and even, in some cases (Idi Amin and Bokassa), mad cannibals.
3- This book is unbiased, concise and Well-written, and it will remain the standard book on the modern history of Africa for at least, a decade ahead.
In just a few sentences: If you weant to read about the African history since 1950 decade, this is the book that you must buy and read. This book is excellent, unbiased and concise. Yes, a book with more than 710 pages can be concise. African history is very terrible and also very fun. I found just a problem with this book is that it misses small African island nations, such as Cape Verde and Mauritius. Even so, this problem is small and being this book, the best in the world, about its subject, I have to give five stars for it.
7 people found this helpful
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Alexander Kobulnicky
4.0 out of 5 stars Africa 101
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2018
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This book, for what it is, is invaluable. Having read it, I now know All the Facts About Africa (at least through 2011). Before, I knew that Charles Taylor was a bad guy, maybe having something to do with Liberia, and that Tutsis were massacred for some reason, but I was not able to piece together a narrative of how or why it happened. Now, I feel like I have a handle on what's going on in Africa and, importantly, can assimilate future news about the continent. This is like a textbook for an introductory course on African history (and if professors aren't using it, they should.) If I wanted to learn more about Senegalese history, or Ugandan history, it would be a great foundation.

It's honestly churlish to complain about a 750-page book that covers 55 years of an entire continent -- but I will anyway. My main complaint relates to its textbookishness: Meredith offers scarcely any analysis. Why is Africa like that? Is there anything the rest of the world could have done to keep it from being such a disaster? (Would even more foreign aid have helped, or would it just have gone into somebody's pocket? Would more peacekeeping missions have worked or would they have just gotten sucked into the whirlwind of tribal politics?) What should the colonial powers have done pre-WW2? (Other than not colonize Africa duh) What should they have done post-war to prepare their colonies for independence? Was there a better way than the one they chose, or were Harold Macmillan and Charles deGaulle making the best of a bad situation?

Most frustrating of all is Botswana. The history of Botswana is scarcely mentioned at all (that's not a problem in and of itself. There are a Lot of countries in Africa. The word Mauretania appears only three times in the whole book.) But occasionally Meredith will jump in to mention that almost every country in Africa had trouble with dictators, corruption, economic collapse and civil war, *except Botswana*. What did they do right? Did they have a singularly principled leader? Was it something to do with their ethnic makeup or the basis of their economy? Was it just sheer luck? Comparing Botswana with the rest of Africa would have been illuminating - but instead it's just a tease.

Oh well. This is a very good book.
18 people found this helpful
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Crianhard
5.0 out of 5 stars very tough reading
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
You really must be a glutton for punishment to read this, but it is the truth, hard to imagine so many bad dictators willing to punish their own people who supposedly voted them in.. none of them interested in education, public services, decent living conditions…. More interested in killing and having private yachts and castles in France…. And all this has happened in the past few decades.. we really haven’t advanced much …. Country by Country analysis is staggering, thank you
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Depressing but important book
Reviewed in Canada on November 30, 2016
Verified Purchase
This is a good book, but a warning is in order: prepare to feel depressed. The story of African misery and misgovernance is relentless and overwhelming. Is there hope for the future? Damned little, it would seem. The obstacles in the way of progress are huge. This book enumerates these problems in excruciating detail. A valuable contribution to the struggle for justice in a troubled continent.
2 people found this helpful
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anoop seth
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in India on February 8, 2017
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v good
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Christopher
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historical overview
Reviewed in Canada on January 16, 2017
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Excellent overview of the history of Africa since independence. Essential resource for those looking for a comprehensive introduction to the region. Strongly recommended
One person found this helpful
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Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is fantastic. I am loving every page of it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 22, 2016
Verified Purchase
This book is fantastic . I am loving every page of it. Good research, accurate information and very readable . Well done to Meredith
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Semou Zinabou Abebe
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Canada on March 27, 2016
Verified Purchase
its very intresting, dojng a paper on sudan ad the conflicts there. it really helped me get a good undertsabding of what happened.
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